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Cost-Effectiveness of Community-Level Approaches to HIV Prevention: A Review

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Abstract

Effective community-level HIV prevention strategies have the potential to reach large numbers of at-risk individuals at relatively small per-capita costs, and therefore to be highly cost-effective. We review the published literature on the cost-effectiveness of community-level HIV prevention interventions, including five studies of sexual behavior change interventions and seven risk reduction programs for injection drug users. Overall, these studies indicate that community-level strategies can be very cost-effective, and in many cases, actually save society money by averting the need for costly HIV/AIDS medical care.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Center for AIDS Intervention Research, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI

    Steven D. Pinkerton

  2. AIDS Research Institute, Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, and Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, CA

    James G. Kahn

  3. Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention—Intervention Research and Support, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA

    David R. Holtgrave

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  1. Steven D. Pinkerton
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  2. James G. Kahn
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  3. David R. Holtgrave
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Correspondence to Steven D. Pinkerton.

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Pinkerton, S.D., Kahn, J.G. & Holtgrave, D.R. Cost-Effectiveness of Community-Level Approaches to HIV Prevention: A Review. The Journal of Primary Prevention 23, 175–198 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019916331888

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