Document 1823
 DOCN  M94A1823
 TI    Current estimates of the economic costs of AIDS in Thailand and their
       regional impacts.
 DT    9412
 AU    Obremskey S; Viravaidya M; Sittitrai W; Brown T; Population and
       Community Development Association, Bangkok,; Thailand.
 SO    Int Conf AIDS. 1994 Aug 7-12;10(1):443 (abstract no. PD0382). Unique
       Identifier : AIDSLINE ICA10/94370752
 AB    OBJECTIVES: To quantify the economic impact of the AIDS epidemic in
       Thailand in terms of health care costs, lost productivity, and impacts
       on the family unit, especially children. To examine the regional
       variations of impacts and implications for planning & budget
       allocations. METHODOLOGY: Using recent projections of HIV prevalence and
       AIDS cases, revised data on hospital costs of AIDS, and the discounted
       adult years lost methodology of Over, Bertozzi, and Chin, aggregate
       indirect costs of AIDS were calculated. Given the wide variation in
       regional seroprevalences, the economic severity of the epidemic as a
       function of economic outlook in each region was examined. RESULTS: 1)
       Hospital treatment costs will rise from US $16 million in 1993 to $65
       million in 2000; aggregate costs over the period will be $325 million;
       2) More than 475,000 deaths will occur over the period with a cumulative
       indirect cost exceeding $11 billion; 3) Per capita incomes in the North
       and Central regions, the areas most heavily affected by the epidemic,
       are 18% and 33% respectively of those in Bangkok, but they contain 40%
       and 24% of HIV infections. This will disproportionately affect families
       there, through inability to pay for medical care and need to remove
       children from school for financial reasons or to meet labor shortfalls.
       DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1) The regions most heavily affected have
       the least ability to absorb the economic burden of AIDS; Government
       policies to address these impacts must be implemented including
       educational subsidies, redirection of development, and innovative
       approaches to family and community based care; 2) individual families in
       these regions will suffer greatly with long term consequences for
       regional development. These will include depletion of family savings and
       loss of educational opportunity for children.
 DE    Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*ECONOMICS/EPIDEMIOLOGY/  MORTALITY
       *Health Care Costs  Human  Thailand/EPIDEMIOLOGY  MEETING ABSTRACT

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