Thirty Years of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Argentina: An Assessment of the National Health Response

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.