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The impact and cost-effectiveness of community-based HIV self-testing in sub-Saharan Africa: a health economic and modelling analysis

Cambiano, V; Johnson, CC; Hatzold, K; Terris-Prestholt, F; Maheswaran, H; Thirumurthy, H; Figueroa, C; ... Phillips, A; + view all (2019) The impact and cost-effectiveness of community-based HIV self-testing in sub-Saharan Africa: a health economic and modelling analysis. Journal of the International AIDS Society , 22 (S1) , Article e25243. 10.1002/jia2.25243. Green open access

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Abstract

Introduction: The prevalence of undiagnosed HIV is declining in Africa, and various HIV testing approaches are finding lower positivity rates. In this context, the epidemiological impact and cost‐effectiveness of community‐based HIV self‐testing (CB‐HIVST) is unclear. We aimed to assess this in different sub‐populations and across scenarios characterized by different adult HIV prevalence and antiretroviral treatment programmes in sub‐Saharan Africa. Methods: The synthesis model was used to address this aim. Three sub‐populations were considered for CB‐HIVST: (i) women having transactional sex (WTS); (ii) young people (15 to 24 years); and (iii) adult men (25 to 49 years). We assumed uptake of CB‐HIVST similar to that reported in epidemiological studies (base case), or assumed people use CB‐HIVST only if exposed to risk (condomless sex) since last HIV test. We also considered a five‐year time‐limited CB‐HIVST programme. Cost‐effectiveness was defined by an incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio (ICER; cost‐per‐disability‐adjusted life‐year (DALY) averted) below US$500 over a time horizon of 50 years. The efficiency of targeted CB‐HIVST was evaluated using the number of additional tests per infection or death averted. Results: In the base case, targeting adult men with CB‐HIVST offered the greatest impact, averting 1500 HIV infections and 520 deaths per year in the context of a simulated country with nine million adults, and impact could be enhanced by linkage to voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC). However, the approach was only cost‐effective if the programme was limited to five years or the undiagnosed prevalence was above 3%. CB‐HIVST to WTS was the most cost‐effective. The main drivers of cost‐effectiveness were the cost of CB‐HIVST and the prevalence of undiagnosed HIV. All other CB‐HIVST scenarios had an ICER above US$500 per DALY averted. Conclusions: CB‐HIVST showed an important epidemiological impact. To maximize population health within a fixed budget, CB‐HIVST needs to be targeted on the basis of the prevalence of undiagnosed HIV, sub‐population and the overall costs of delivering this testing modality. Linkage to VMMC enhances its cost‐effectiveness.

Type: Article
Title: The impact and cost-effectiveness of community-based HIV self-testing in sub-Saharan Africa: a health economic and modelling analysis
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1002/jia2.25243
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1002/jia2.25243
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2019 World Health Organization; licensed by IAS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution IGO License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/legalcode which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited. In any reproduction of this article there should not be any suggestion that WHO or the article endorse any specific organization or products. The use of the WHO logo is not permitted. This notice should be preserved along with the article’s URL.
Keywords: HIV testing; community-based HIV self-testing; cost-effectiveness; mathematical modelling; HIV; benefits and cost
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health > Infection and Population Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10072183
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