2012/01 The macroeconomic impact of HIV/AIDS and HIV/AIDS interventions
The past three decades have witnessed an unprecedented political response to HIV/AIDS. Billions of dollars have been allocated and national and international organisations, dedicated to the fight against HIV/AIDS, have been created. Unfortunately, the response has not been mirrored by a similar increase in the knowledge about the macroeconomic impact of HIV/AIDS and the interventions to combat it.
The purpose of this synthesis study is to assess the different methodological options commonly used to estimate the macroeconomic impact of HIV/AIDS epidemics and interventions. By providing a better understanding of the evidence about existing approaches and their strengths and weaknesses the study is meant to enable policy discussions on the most efficient way to fight the disease, as well as to facilitate better and more systematic future assessments of HIV/AIDS interventions.
The study is based on a comprehensive literature review, covering commissioned studies, reports and scientific articles – all in the public domain. While the study is focused on the assessment of methodologies, it also includes a brief discussion of the magnitude of the impacts estimated in various studies.