Early medication for HIV is cost-effective: study

Treating people with HIV soon after they become infected is cost-effective over the long term, according to a study that focused on South Africa and India.
The study out yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine analysed the economics of giving antiretroviral drugs to people with HIV before their viral load gets too high.
While researchers have already determined that early treatment has many health benefits, its cost -- about USD 23,000 a year according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- has remained a concern for considering widespread early treatment in low and middle income countries.

By projecting the treatment costs over time and accounting for the effects of better health and fewer infections, researchers found long-term economic benefits in both countries.
"In short, early ART is a 'triple winner': HIV-infected patients live healthier lives, their partners are protected from HIV, and the investment is superb," said co-author Rochelle Walensky of the Massachusetts General Hospital.
"This study provides a critical answer to an urgent policy question."

Researchers chose to focus on South Africa and India because they had the highest numbers of people with HIV among nine countries studied in a clinical trial known as HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 052.

The trial showed that treatment as prevention dramatically reduced the risks of viral transmission and also substantially cut back the development of infections like tuberculosis in the HIV-infected patients.
South Africa and India were also representative, respectively, of the middle and lower income countries where these questions persist over how early to treat people for HIV.