Highly active antiretroviral therapy: pharmacoeconomic issues in the management of HIV infection.
The advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), including protease inhibitors and/or non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, for the treatment of HIV infection has led to a dramatic decline of morbidity and mortality. The acquisition costs of HAART are substantial. However, these costs are partially offset by reduced inpatient care for opportunistic infections and other AIDS-related diseases. Furthermore, job productivity in patients infected with HIV is increased under HAART. In developed countries with a low unemployment rate, the discounted value of savings caused by increased productivity in earlier years exceeds the discounted value of later increases in costs resulting from morbidity. Therefore, HAART represents a very efficient treatment strategy that leads to overall cost savings when taking a societal perspective.
Sendi
P
P
Center for Health Economics and Policy Analysis, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. psendi@swissonline.ch
Palmer
A J
AJ
Gafni
A
A
Battegay
M
M
D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active / Q000191:economics*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans