Costs and cost-efectiveness of HIV early infant diagnosis in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review
Date
2022
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Abstract
Background: Continuing progress in the global pediatric human immunodefciency virus (HIV) response depends
on timely identifcation and care of infants with HIV. As countries scale-out improvements to HIV early infant diagnosis
(EID), economic evaluations are needed to inform program design and implementation. This scoping review aimed to
summarize the available evidence and discuss practical implications of cost and cost-efectiveness analyses of HIV EID.
Methods: We systematically searched bibliographic databases (Embase, MEDLINE and EconLit) and grey literature for
economic analyses of HIV EID in low- and middle-income countries published between January 2008 and June 2021.
We extracted data on unit costs, cost savings, and incremental cost-efectiveness ratios as well as outcomes related to
health and the HIV EID care process and summarized results in narrative and tabular formats. We converted unit costs
to 2021 USD for easier comparison of costs across studies.
Results: After title and abstract screening of 1278 records and full-text review of 99 records, we included 29 studies:
17 cost analyses and 12 model-based cost-efectiveness analyses. Unit costs were 21.46–51.80 USD for point-of-care
EID tests and 16.21–42.73 USD for laboratory-based EID tests. All cost-efectiveness analyses stated at least one of
the interventions evaluated to be cost-efective. Most studies reported costs of EID testing strategies; however, few
studies assessed the same intervention or reported costs in the same way, making comparison of costs across studies
challenging. Limited data availability of context-appropriate costs and outcomes of children with HIV as well as struc‑
tural heterogeneity of cost-efectiveness modelling studies limits generalizability of economic analyses of HIV EID.
Conclusions: The available cost and cost-efectiveness evidence for EID of HIV, while not directly comparable across
studies, covers a broad range of interventions and suggests most interventions designed to improve EID are costefective or cost-saving. Further studies capturing costs and benefts of EID services as they are delivered in real-world
settings are needed.
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Keywords
Cost efectiveness, Diagnostics, Low- and middle-income countries, Point of care, Early infant diagnosis, Health systems