Recurrent Costs of India's Free ART Program

Publications - Released in 2009

In April 2004, the government of India announced the Free Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) Program, which brought first-line antiretroviral (ARV) drugs within the reach of a much larger pool of ARV-eligible individuals. However, the full costs of providing treatment, the share of costs across entities involved directly or indirectly in the program, and the possible financial implications of a more scaled-up program were not much discussed or analyzed in the country, leaving open many questions regarding the cost of the program and the implications of scaling up access to treatment. The present study attempts to fill this gap by carrying out a financial analysis of the recurrent costs of the ART program of the government of India, with a view to understanding the per-client cost of provision of ART by the government, the share of various components of the program in total cost, the distribution of costs across the different bearers of such costs, the resource implications of scaling up, and the long-run sustainability of the program.

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