International Health Research

As little is known about the costs of HIV treatment in Ethiopia, Asfaw Bikilla recently published a paper comparing the average cost of antiretroviral therapy in a typical district hospital in Ethiopia.

The paper provides much needed detailed cost estimates for ART provision in low resource African settings. There is a real lack of data in this area, and these data might be useful for other researchers and policy makers.

The average cost for each patient per year was US $ 235. An extra average cost of US $29 was estimated for admitted patients. The major cost driver under the ART scheme was the ART costs.

Article: Bikilla AD , Jerene D, Robberstad B and Lindtjorn B. Cost estimates of HIV care and treatment with and without anti-retroviral therapy at Arba Minch Hospital in southern Ethiopia. Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation 2009, 7:6doi:10.1186/1478-7547-7-6

Tags: HIV cost ART

My name is Bernt Lindtjørn. I am a professor in International Health at the University of Bergen.

I combine practical public health and clinical medicine, mostly in Ethiopia, with research and teaching.

It is important for me to see the disease control, research efforts, teaching and organizational work result in sustainable health programmes in countries with limited resources.