For the study, researchers used a mathematical model, along with epidemiologic and cost data from South Africa and Côte d’Ivoire, to project the influence of reduced U.S. aid on the nations’ HIV transmission. Researchers factored in reduced HIV screening activities, restricted access to antiretroviral medication and the minimization of lab monitoring of diagnosed patients, among other influences.
The researchers found savings generated by the proposed cuts would likely be small — about $900 per year of life lost in South Africa and $600 to $900 in Côte d’Ivoire. Researchers also project the cuts would cause a 35 percent surge in HIV-related deaths in Côte d’Ivoire, as well as 500,000 additional cases of HIV and more than 1.6 million more deaths in South Africa.
“Over the past decade and a half we’ve spent considerable money to save lives in these and other African nations,” said Rochelle Walensky, MD, an infectious disease physician at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and the lead study author. “Would the relatively small savings realized by currently proposed budget reductions be worth these large humanitarian costs?”
President Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 budget, released in May, contained $1.1 billion in cuts for PEPFAR.
More articles on infection control:
2 NYC residents infected with Legionnaires’ in same apartment building
Study: Religious women less educated about HPV vaccine
Salmonella, syphilis, hepatitis A: 6 recent and ongoing outbreaks
