User:Amonaroll/sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The cost of HIV treatment is a complicated issue with an extremely wide range of costs due to varying factors such as the type of antiretroviral therapy and the country in which the treatment is administered in. The first line therapy of HIV, or the initial antiretroviral drug regimen for an HIV-infected patient, is generally cheaper than subsequent second-line or third-line therapies[1]. There is also a great variability of drug prices among low, middle, and high income countries. In general, low-income countries have the lowest cost of antiretroviral therapy, while middle- and high-income tend to have considerably higher costs.[2] Certain prices of HIV drugs may be high and difficult to afford due to patent barriers on antiretroviral drugs and slow regulatory approval for drugs,[3] which may lead to indirect consequences such as greater HIV drug resistance[4] and an increased number of opportunistic infections[5]. Government and activist movements have taken efforts to limit the price of HIV drugs.[6]