How much will it cost? Estimation of resource needs and availability for HIV prevention, treatment and care for people who inject drugs in Asia.
As countries in Asia strive to meet their universal access targets, harm-reduction programmes are yet to be scaled up to reach effective levels of coverage. Resource tracking and estimation of resource needs and gaps is critical to inform the financing decisions of major donors of harm-reduction programmes in the region. This study aimed at estimating the financial resource needs and gaps for scaling-up harm reduction in the region, building on previous research conducted by the Independent Commission on AIDS in Asia. The overall resource need for achieving universal access in the target population in 2009 was US $0.5 billion, with NSP and OST accounting for nearly 70% of the overall regional resource need. A significant resource gap, approximately 90%, of the resource need in 2009, was identified for harm reduction in the region, representing less than 2% of the overall global resource need to address AIDS. Additional resources will be required to support the introduction and scaling-up of integrated, comprehensive harm-reduction programmes that provide a full range of services to reduce HIV transmission among people who inject drugs.
Bergenstrom
Anne
A
United Nations Regional Task Force on Injecting Drug Use and HIV/AIDS for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand. anne.bergenstrom@unodc.org
McLeod
Ross
R
Sharma
Mukta
M
Mesquita
Fabio
F
Dorabjee
Jimmy
J
Atun
Rifat
R
Lewis
Gary
G
Rao
J V R Prasada
JV
D001208:Asia; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005378:Financial Support; D014943:Global Health; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D040261:Harm Reduction; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009313:National Health Programs; D020380:Needs Assessment; D015995:Prevalence; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy