Costs of HIV/AIDS: a case study in Iran

Advanced HIV (AIDS) is a phenomenon that its social, cultural and economic aspects are very broad and it can be regarded as an important obstacle in human progress. Considering the possibility of the future expansion, especially in developing countries with limited resources, thinking about its economic aspect is inevitable. The aim of this study was to calculate advanced and non-advanced HIV infection costs to patients in the selected referral centers in Iran. This is the kind of descriptive and cross-sectional study that was carried out on 120 out of 400 patients in the selected referral centers in Iran (the largest referral canters providing services to patients with advanced and non- advanced HIV) in four groups including advanced HIV with addiction, advanced HIV without addiction, non- advanced HIV with addiction and non advanced HIV without addiction in 2010. The study involves collecting data from available resources (including patient files and referral to the relevant centers) and interviews with patients and according to a valid questionnaire. The average annual total cost in groups first to forth were $18,583.44, $16,135.16, $7,029.48 and $7,007.44 respectively (P<0.01). Also the average of direct and indirect costs was significant (P<0.01). Considering the high costs of the disease and the low average age and education level in the study, using the evidence based educational intervention in order to increase the level of awareness to prevent further spread of the disease especially among the younger generation can lead to reduce the expenditure.