HIV/AIDS long-term costs high - and unaffordable to most-affected countries

There will be a significant shortfall in the funding needed for HIV control in sub-Saharan Africa in the coming years and those countries with the highest HIV burden will be unable to meet their obligations on their own to sustain control efforts, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

They calculate that the price tag for providing long-term HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in 2015-2050 in the nine sub-Saharan countries most affected by the epidemic ranges from $98 billion at current coverage levels to $261 billion if coverage is scaled up, reports EurekAlert. The study appears online March 6, 2016 in BMJ Open.

"The HIV epidemic is far from over," said first author Rifat Atun, professor of global health systems, adding: "The magnitude of funding needed to sustain the HIV fight is very large and the consequences of complacency even larger."