The Cost of Providing HIV/AIDS Counseling and Testing Services in Vietnam

This article aimed to provide estimates and analyses of the cost of providing voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services for HIV/AIDS in a province in northern Vietnam.

This facility-based costing study was conducted in the Thai Nguyen province, located 85 km north of Hanoi. Cost data were collected in six facility-based VCT units and two freestanding ones by using an ingredient approach. Both financial and economic costs of VCT services for HIV/AIDS were estimated from the perspective of the service providers.

The mean total annual financial costs of a facility-based and a freestanding VCT unit in the study site were US $15,673 and US $42,237, respectively. The mean total annual economic costs of these services were US $16,695 and US $44,682, respectively. The cost per visit to the facility-based VCT unit was lower than in the freestanding facility (financial cost of US $28.4 vs. US $36.8; economic cost of US $30.3 vs. US $38.9). The same was true for the cost per complete VCT procedure (financial cost of US $34.7 vs. US $38.0; economic cost of US $36.9 vs. US $40.2). The cost per HIV positive case detected in facility-based VCT unit was higher than that of the freestanding VCT unit (financial cost of US $149.3 vs. US $111.2; economic cost of US $159.0 vs. US $117.6).

The results of the present study offer preliminary evidence on economic aspects of providing VCT services in Vietnam. The findings from this study can serve as a basis for further studies as well as for program and policy development.