Cost-effectiveness of different intervention strategies of HIV in Zhejiang, China.

Objective: Mass screening for HIV and preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) may be effective measures for reducing the probability of HIV transmission. Our study aimed to determine the cost-effectiveness of preliminary screening in the general population, PrEP for HIV-negative spouses in serodiscordant couples, or both approaches in Zhejiang Province.

Design: From a policy-maker's perspective, a Markov model was constructed to compare four strategies over a 30-year horizon.

Methods: In the Markov model, the implementation intensities of the strategies varied from 50 to 100%. Different strategies were evaluated by the reduction of unfavorable clinical outcomes, saved life-years, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs), and net monetary benefits (NMBs).

Results: The PrEP-screening strategy reduced the most unfavorable clinical outcomes and saved the most life-years and QALYs from 2023 to 2052. It always gained the maximum QALYs and NMB, while its ICER was always lower than the willingness-to-pay (WTP). The NMB of the PrEP-screening strategy gradually increased as the implementation intensity increased.

Conclusion: With adequate manpower and policies, we suggest implementing the PrEP-screening strategy in Zhejiang Province, suggesting that the broader the population coverage of the strategy, the better. In addition, the PrEP strategy is an alternative.