Abstract

Kuhlmann et al. reported a very high cost of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) for Colombian society as a finding of their economic modeling study in 2017 [1]. Their results showed that the overall cost is about $1.431 billion, and mean annual costs per patient were 40% greater than the gross domestic product per capita. These findings agree with what has been observed elsewhere in Latin America, in part because most cases of HIV infection in that region occur in low- or middle-income countries [2].

For example, in Brazil, there are about 830,000 cases of HIV infection, but just 60% of these patients received antiretroviral (ARV) therapy in 2016 [2]. Long-term patient adherence to ARV therapy remains a challenge 29 years after ARV was first introduced in Brazil, and this problem increases the cost of treatment and the emergence of new infections. In recent years, there has been an increase in studies addressing interventions that increase patient adherence to ARV therapy. However, none of these interventions has been thoroughly implemented in its entirety in Brazil [3].