Assessing and alleviating the real impact of AIDS
Bertozzi, S.
Global Aidsnews the Newsletter of the World Health Organization Global Programme on Aids 1: 10-11
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 1020-007X PMID: 12346159 Document Number: 290040
The impact of HIV/AIDS has been measured by calculating direct medical expenses and the indirect costs of lost production, which can be 10-20 times higher than the direct costs. Direct costs are hundreds of US dollars for low-income countries, thousands of dollars for middle-income countries, and tens of thousands of dollars for high-income countries such as Japan, Sweden, and the United States. Macroeconomic models have examined the effect of a shrinking labor force attributed to mortality from AIDS. In heavily affected Sub-Saharan countries economies will be impacted significantly, although this impact has not been proved yet. Beyond this measurable economic impact the devastating social and human cost is evident to the visitor in the Rakai region in Uganda, the Kagera in Tanzania, or the Cooperbelt in Zambia. It has been suggested that one major factor in the disintegration of Rwanda was the high HIV prevalence in the land. The severity of poverty also afflicts the infected, thus prevention measures could benefit mostly those with average income whose livelihood is disrupted by AIDS. Instead of focusing on the economic cost, the direct affect on people's lives should be measured. The benefits of health interventions are typically defined in terms of years of life gained and months of disability averted by expensive drugs and diagnostics. The relief of pain, nausea, and loneliness is mainly ignored. Pain control and support groups for people living with HIV/AIDS do not cost much in low-income countries where labor costs are also low. On the other hand, discrimination, stigmatization, and isolation cost more to maintain and perpetuate.