Identifying Key Drivers of the Impact of an HIV Cure Intervention in Sub-Saharan Africa
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND: It is unknown what properties would be required to make an intervention in low income countries that can eradicate or control human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) without antiretroviral therapy (ART) cost-effective. METHODS: We used a model of HIV and ART to investigate the effect of introducing an ART-free viral suppression intervention in 2022 using Zimbabwe as an example country. We assumed that the intervention (cost: $500) would be accessible for 90% of the population, be given to those receiving effective ART, have sufficient efficacy to allow ART interruption in 95%, with a rate of viral rebound of 5% per year in the first 3 months, and a 50% decline in rate with each successive year. RESULTS: An ART-free viral suppression intervention with these properties would result in >0.53 million disability-adjusted-life-years averted over 2022-2042, with a reduction in HIV program costs of $300 million (8.7% saving). An intervention of this efficacy costing anything up to $1400 is likely to be cost-effective in this setting. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions aimed at curing HIV infection have the potential to improve overall disease burden and to reduce costs. Given the effectiveness and cost of ART, such interventions would have to be inexpensive and highly effective.
Date Issued
2016-07-01
Date Acceptance
2016-03-21
Citation
Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2016, 214 (1), pp.73-79
ISSN
1537-6613
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Start Page
73
End Page
79
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume
214
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited.
Sponsor
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Identifier
PII: jiw120
Grant Number
OPP1084364
Subjects
HIV
antiretroviral therapy
cure
economic evaluation
model
Microbiology
11 Medical And Health Sciences
06 Biological Sciences
Publication Status
Published