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The cost-effectiveness of HIV voluntary counseling and testing in China
Shuhong Wang1, John R Moss, Janet E Hiller
1Adelaide Health Technology Assessment, Discipline of Public Health, School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia. shuhong.wang@adelaide.edu.au
Abstract:
China has experienced a dramatic increase in the number of HIV infections. To control the AIDS epidemic, free HIV voluntary counseling and testing has been made available in China. This study compared the cost-effectiveness of this program for 2 populations-the general population and men who have sex with men (MSM), to examine the value for money of this program. A Bernoulli-process model has been used to translate the changes in sexual behaviors to the number of HIV infections averted. Costs are estimated from a societal perspective. The outcomes are measured in terms of the incremental cost per HIV infection averted and the incremental cost per disability-adjusted life-year averted. The study found that the voluntary counseling and testing for the general population is not cost-effective based on the threshold adopted, whereas the same HIV prevention program for MSM is cost-saving. These results suggest that the efficiency of resources used could be substantially improved by appropriately targeting high-risk population groups. Therefore measures should be taken to increase the uptake of this intervention among high-risk groups.
