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Despite a substantial improvement in controlling new infections of HIV over the last ten years, Mexico is experiencing a low-level epidemic with approximately 180,000 people living with HIV (Spectrum, 2013), making it the fourth ranking country in Latin America with regards to the number of people with the disease (PLHIV). The objective of increasing coverage and reducing inequality in the country is reflected in the objectives of the Specific Action Program (PAE) for the national response to HIV, AIDS and STI of 2013-2018 (Secretaria de salud), which seeks to decrease the effect of HIV and STIs, implement prevention strategies and provide comprehensive care for vulnerable population groups and those living in poverty. The possibility of achieving the objectives of the PAE is closely related to the total amount of resources that Mexico can commit to fighting HIV and the way these resources are allocated. In the hopes of assisting the Government of Mexico in further strengthening its HIV investment, the authors try to answer the question How can HIV funding be optimally allocated to the combination of HIV response interventions that will yield the highest impact in the shortest period. The study found that despite the overall greater costs of treatment with ART, this is the most cost-effective program. ART not only reduces deaths but is an effective measure to prevent new infections due to the reduction of viral load to undetectable levels. As such, the most cost-effective allocation – with no additional resources of current Program funds, is to scale up treatment, by about 4 to 8 percent, to maximize ART coverage while slightly reducing overall allocations to general population prevention.This slight increase would avert 4,235 deaths and 3,371 new infections, and improve health outcomes by around 6 percent. To increase the value-for-money of existing resources, allocation efficiency would also require the strengthening of CENSIDA´s stewardship role, to ensure that the funds transferred are invested as they were initially earmarked.

This book delves into the combination of factors that make Argentina a success story in combating HIV/AIDS. It analyzes the national and inter-provincial burden of disease, the demographics of new HIV cases, the demand and supply-sides of service delivery, and conducts a cost-benefit analysis of the Argentine National HIV/AIDS Program from 2000 to 2010. This book will be of interest to those who wish to examine key programmatic innovations that have been essential to Argentina’s success in the fight against HIV/AIDS, such as the introduction of universal free antiretroviral treatment, a comprehensive legal framework for sexual and reproductive rights, the introduction of incentives and results-based financing in the HIV/AIDS program, electronic monitoring of supplies and medicines, and implementation of an electronic clinical governance system for improving the quality of care and patient follow-up. The 1992 creation of the National HIV/AIDS Program was a fundamental step for Argentina to reach the second lowest burden of HIV/AIDS in South America in 2010. Despite these successes, the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Argentina still poses continuous challenges, including a high number of new infections among young men who have sex with men, inequalities in HIV/AIDS rates between provinces, insufficient coverage of HIV diagnostic testing, relatively low expenditure on HIV prevention, and poses the question regarding the long-term financial sustainability of the program, considering the increasing number of patients in treatment and the high comparative cost of antiretroviral treatment.