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The Economics of HIV/AIDS in Low-Income Countries: The Case for Prevention

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  • David Canning

Abstract

There are two approaches to reducing the burden of sickness and death associated with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS): treatment and prevention. Despite large international aid flows for HIV/AIDS, the needs for prevention and treatment in low- and middle-income countries outstrip the resources available. Thus, it becomes necessary to set priorities. With limited resources, should the focus of efforts to combat HIV/AIDS be on prevention or treatment? I discuss the range of prevention and treatment alternatives and examine their cost effectiveness. I consider various arguments that have been raised against the use of cost-effectiveness analysis in setting public policy priorities for the response to HIV/AIDS in developing countries. I conclude that promoting AIDS treatment using antiretrovirals in resource-constrained countries comes at a huge cost in terms of avoidable deaths that could be prevented through interventions that would substantially lower the scale of the epidemic.

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File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.20.3.121
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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal Journal of Economic Perspectives.

Volume (Year): 20 (2006)
Issue (Month): 3 (Summer)
Pages: 121-142

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Handle: RePEc:aea:jecper:v:20:y:2006:i:3:p:121-142

Note: DOI: 10.1257/jep.20.3.121
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  1. Alan Williams, 1999. "Calculating the global burden of disease: time for a strategic reappraisal?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 8(1), pages 1-8.
  2. Cuddington, John T, 1993. "Modeling the Macroeconomic Effects of AIDS, with an Application to Tanzania," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 7(2), pages 173-89, May.
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Cited by:
  1. Patrick J. McEwan, 2012. "Cost-effectiveness analysis of education and health interventions in developing countries," The Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 4(2), pages 189-213, June.
  2. Ojeaga, Paul, 2012. "Economic policy, does It help life expectancy? an african evidence of the role of economic policy on longevity," MPRA Paper 40199, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  3. Aureo de Paula & Gil Shapira & Petra E. Todd, 2008. "How Beliefs About HIV Status affect Risky Behaviors: Evidence From Malawi, Second Version," PIER Working Paper Archive 08-041, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 02 Dec 2008.
  4. Julia Fimpel & Michael Stolpe, 2010. "The welfare costs of HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe: an empirical assessment using the economic value-of-life approach," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 305-322, June.
  5. William Easterly, 2008. "Can the West Save Africa?," NBER Working Papers 14363, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  6. Nicholas Wilson, 2011. "Fertility Responses to Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV," Department of Economics Working Papers 2011-13, Department of Economics, Williams College, revised Sep 2011.
  7. Zivin, Joshua Graff & Thirumurthy, Harsha & Goldstein, Markus, 2009. "AIDS treatment and intrahousehold resource allocation: Children's nutrition and schooling in Kenya," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(7-8), pages 1008-1015, August.
  8. David Canning & Ajay Mahal & Kunle Odumosu & Prosper OkonkwoZhiwei, 2006. "Assessing the Economic Impact of HIV/AIDS on Nigerian Households: A Propensity Score Matching Approach," PGDA Working Papers 1606, Program on the Global Demography of Aging.
  9. Yusuf, Shahid & Nabeshima, Kaoru & Wei Ha, 2007. "What makes cities healthy ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4107, The World Bank.
  10. Shorish, Jamsheed, 2007. "Welfare Analysis of HIV/AIDS: Formulating and Computing a Continuous Time Overlapping Generations Policy Model," Economics Series 211, Institute for Advanced Studies.
  11. David Canning & Diana Bowser, 2011. "Investing in Health to Improve the Wellbeing of the Disadvantaged: Reversing the Augment of the Marmot Reports," PGDA Working Papers 7811, Program on the Global Demography of Aging.

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