NHS Professor Publishes In Health Affairs

The cost associated with the HIV/AIDS pandemic could rise to $35 billion a year by 2031 unless corrective measures are taken on a global scale, according to a new article in the journal Health Affairs.

William McGreevey, Ph.D., an associate professor of international health at NHS, acted as one of seven co-authors of "Critical Choices in Financing the Response to the Global HIV/AIDS pandemic," which appeared in the November/December 2009 issue of the journal. Robert Hecht, Ph.D., managing director of the Results for Development Institute, served as lead author.

"In 1981, no one expected that the epidemic would become the formidable challenge it is today," the article said. "Despite progress in responding to the pandemic over the past 25 years, there are still 33 million people living with HIV; 2.3 million adults became infected with HIV in 2007. Without a change in approach, a major epidemic will still be with us in 2031."

To curb the potential drastic rise in spending, the authors suggest a number of measures, including:

• Focusing high-impact prevention efforts for most-at-risk populations.
• Obtaining low drug prices.
• Adopting low-cost, high-quality delivery approaches that consist of well-supervised local clinical with physicians and other health care professionals.
• Advancing prevention and treatment options through technology, as well as political and social movements.
• Expanding and sustaining financing among donor and developing countries.

"Urgent and concentrated efforts to implement these recommended policies in the next few years will help put the global fight against AIDS on a more efficient and sustainable path, leading to vastly reduced suffering over the next two decades," the authors said.

Other Georgetown University co-authors include Callisto Emas Madavo, Ph.D., visiting professor in the School of Foreign Service, and David M. De Ferranti, Ph.D., an affiliated professor at Georgetown Public Policy Institute.