What does HIV/AIDS cost? The answer to this question depends a lot on whom you ask.

10/26/10 • -1 min

Ask the UN and you’ll get the staggering sum of $10 billion. A year . The annual per capita cost of treating infected Africans, where much of the UN money goes, is around $1,100. One of the major problems facing HIV/AIDS advocates is their inability to lower this number. An estimated $600 is spent on anti-retroviral drugs, while the remaining $500 is spent on other AIDS associated conditions. Even $10 billion wouldn’t cover treatment for the more than 20 million Africans with HIV/AIDS. A considerable portion of the proposed UN budget is directed not towards treatment but towards prevention. A major problem is that no one can seem to agree on the actual cost. Although the UN has held firm to their estimate, other groups have presented vastly different figures. The World Health Organization has presented four different scenarios which vary wildly in both the projected outcome and cost. To merely maintain the current status quo, WHO estimates more than $400 billion will need to be spent over the next 20 years. To significantly reduce annual new HIV infections, WHO’s figure is more than $700 billion. Unfortunately such different figures can sometimes complicate funding by making it hard for donors to decide how much to give.
Ask someone who is living with HIV/AIDS and you’ll get a number that’s a lot smaller. The average AIDS patient in America takes a combination of drugs that add up to around $14,000 a year . Much of this cost in the US is defrayed by private insurance, government insurance or sometimes through AIDS drug assistance programs (ADAPs) . These programs are meant to provide access to drugs for low income individuals. Currently 89% of people enrolled in ADAPs make less than 300% of the federal poverty level. However recently the economic conditions have forced many states to scale back their support of these programs. States have either closed enrollment entirely, or narrowed eligibility-forcing people to drop out. Currently the nationwide waiting list is at an all time high of 3,586 people .

Ask the companies that manufacture these lifesaving drugs and you’ll be back to huge figures. One of the newest drugs to enter the market, Fuzeon , is produced by the giant Swiss company, Roche. Roche maintains that Fuzeon’s price (nearly $20,000 a year, or three times the next most expensive drug) is due to the $600 million cost of development. The average drug begins to turn a profit in 16 years, but analysts estimate that Fuzeon’s pricing, and anticipated demand, could mean profits for Roche in as little as three years.
Ask an economist and you’ll get a couple different figures. By 1995 more than $75 billion had been spent on AIDS. Since then, spending has increased most years, with an average of $10 billion more being spent every year. But money spent directly on AIDS does not even begin to cover the true cost. In addition, economists have tried to measure the costs related to lost productivity, wages, and premature death, due to the disease. Figures vary, but some think that indirect costs account for nearly 80 percent of the total cost of AIDS. Worst case scenario guesses estimate that AIDS robs the world of 1.4% of gross domestic product, or the equivalent of wiping out the economy of Australia .

A government study in Uganda found that some companies are hiring and training two employees for a single job in the hope that one will stay healthy. The UN estimates that since 1981 AIDS has reduced Africa’s overall labor force by 25%. Sick days and absenteeism due to AIDS related illness have further reduced productivity in the countries hit hardest by AIDS.
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A Picture of Life with HIV in Africa

Africa. The seed of the world. One of the most beautiful and most scintillating places on earth. From the deserts of the Sahara and the rainforests of the Congo to the bright and bustling metropolis of Cape Town, life is rich everywhere. Yet amidst all this beauty and splendor, a deadly scourge threatens the people of this continent. AIDS.
Sub-Saharan Africa is more heavily affected by HIV/AIDS than is any other region in the world. Somewhere around 22.4 million people in the region are currently living with HIV. This makes up a whopping two-thirds of the global number of HIV-infected individuals. Whereas in other areas of the world the disease affects only certain groups, here, HIV/AIDS affects everyone. This affliction picks apart whole extended families one by one. Schools are gradually emptied over time as students are orphaned. Healthcare and economic development have all taken a hard hit because of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the African peoples. Organizations simply don’t have the funds to support or expand prevention, treatment and care efforts and for this reason, it is likely that the death count will continue to rise. Life expectancy has been drastically reduced across the continent, falling to as low as 31 years in some of the worst afflicted areas. HIV/AIDS is present everywhere we look. It is an unavoidable aspect of everyday life.
The following dialogue includes excerpts from various interviews. I spoke with a group of college students who lived for six months in South Africa and Zambia, another student who lived 2 years in Nigeria, and a field biologist currently doing research in Cameroon. Their testimonies will enhance the picture of daily life in African countries afflicted with HIV/AIDS.
Take the country of Cameroon, for example. As of 2008, the population in Cameroon neared 19 million. Of that, about 600,000 are living with HIV/AIDS. More than half of that is made up of women 15 years and older. While prevalence here is much lower than other countries, HIV/AIDS remains a chief concern. When asked about general knowledge about the disease, most agreed that the “information is very available to middle and upper class citizens, but not necessarily to the lower class citizens and those that are at highest risk.” There is a large focus on prevention here, and the country is littered with billboards promoting abstinence, safer sex practices and condom use.

Public Service Announcement in Cameroon
“Sex can wait...my future comes first.”
South Africa is a key example of a country, of a government that has failed its people. Until very recently, the government took no part in the fight against AIDS. Thabo Mbeki, president from 1999 to 2008 refused to believe that HIV causes AIDS and that condoms can prevent infection. This leadership has fueled outlandish beliefs such as that condoms cause AIDS, or that white people are pushing condoms laced with AIDS to wipe out Africans. When asked about the role of the government in the fight against AIDS, one student said, “The president is not very influential considering he stated that he took a shower after having had sex with someone infected with AIDS, and therefore he would not contract the disease.” Here, she is referring to the current president, Jacob Zuma, who publicly stated that showering after sex with an HIV-positive woman would reduce his risk of being infected. A fellow student added, “NGOs are much more active. They have done a much better job fighting AIDS through their provision of important information and items such as condoms and antiretrovirals.”

Incumbent President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma
The picture of life here has changed drastically since AIDS exploded on the scene. While treatment and prevention are improving in some areas, the governments of more conservative countries, such as South Africa, need to step up and face this issue with full force so that HIV/AIDS is no longer a shadow looming over the lives of everyone.
Facts and figures were obtained from AVERT International HIV and AIDS charity, the Global Health ...