The Cost of Community Outreach HIV Interventions in Thailand: A Cohort Study
Abstract Background Despite having an estimation of 440000 people living with HIV in 2018, the HIV epidemic in Thailand has become mature and new cases reported have been rapidly declining thanks to its successful prevention programs and scaling up of anti-retroviral therapy (ART). Thailand aimed to achieve its commitment to end the HIV epidemic by 2030 and implemented a cascade of HIV interventions through Reach-Recruit-Test-Treat-Retain (RRTTR) program. Methods This study focused on community-based HIV interventions implemented by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) under RRTTR program in the provinces highly affected by HIV epidemic. We calculated unit cost per person reached for HIV interventions tailored for key-affected populations (KAPs) including men who have sex with men/ transgender (MSM/TG), male sex worker (MSW), female sex worker (FSW), people who inject drug (PWID) and migrant (MW). We studied program outputs, costs, and unit costs in variations across different HIV interventions and geographic locations in Thailand. We used these estimates to evaluate the economies of scale and scope of implementing community-based HIV interventions. Results We analysed a total of 38 community-based HIV interventions in 27 provinces. The average unit cost for a person to received HIV services was 29.7 USD for MSM/TG program, 33.1 USD for MW program, 31.9 USD for FSW program, 36.3 USD for MSW program and 179.1 USD for PWID program. The lowest unit cost per person reached was 21.6 USD for Migrant in Samut Sakhon province while the highest was 324.5 USD for PWID in Samut Prakan. The scattered plots of unit cost per person with polynomial and linear trend line shows the presence of economies of scales. Conclusions This study suggested that community-based HIV interventions led by NGOs in Thailand will only become less costly as they are scaled-up overtime.