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Cost-Effectiveness of Counseling and Testing to Prevent Sexual Transmission of HIV in the United States

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Abstract

In this paper we review the cost-effectiveness of HIV counseling and testing in various settings and populations in preventing the sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus, and we discuss how multiple and changing goals have influenced economic evaluations of these programs. The literature indicates that these interventions are generally cost-effective if targeted to groups of infected or high-risk individuals, although there is continuing debate over the efficacy of HIV counseling and testing in changing sexual behavior. For these reasons, HIV counseling and testing programs should be part of an overall prevention strategy which also includes more intensive sexual risk-reduction interventions such as individual, small-group, and community-level approaches.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia

    Paul G. Farnham

  2. Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention: Intervention Research and Support, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

    Paul G. Farnham & Steven D. Pinkerton

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

    Steven D. Pinkerton & Ana P. Johnson-Masotti

  4. Department of Behavioral Science and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia

    David R. Holtgrave

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  1. Paul G. Farnham
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  4. Ana P. Johnson-Masotti
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Farnham, P.G., Pinkerton, S.D., Holtgrave, D.R. et al. Cost-Effectiveness of Counseling and Testing to Prevent Sexual Transmission of HIV in the United States. AIDS Behav 6, 33–43 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014524511777

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