Chang LW, Kagaayi J, Nakigozi G, Serwadda D, Quinn TC, Gray RH, Bollinger RC, Reynolds SJ, Holtgrave D..
AIDS Care. 2012 Sep 13. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 22971113. PMCID: PMC3773472
Abstract
A cost analysis study calculates resources needed to deliver an intervention and can provide useful information on affordability for service providers and policy-makers. We conducted cost analyses of both a peer health worker (PHW) and a mHealth (mobile phone) support intervention. Excluding supervisory staffing costs, total yearly costs for the PHW intervention was $8475, resulting in a yearly cost per patient of $8.74, per virologic failure averted cost of $189, and per patient lost to follow-up averted cost of $1025. Including supervisory staffing costs increased total yearly costs to $14,991. Yearly costs of the mHealth intervention were an additional $1046, resulting in a yearly cost per patient of $2.35. In a threshold analysis, the PHW intervention was found to be cost saving if it was able to avert 1.50 patients per year from switching to second-line antiretroviral therapy. Other AIDS care programs may find these intervention costs affordable.