Intervention Packages to Reduce the Impact of HIV and HCV Infections Among People Who Inject Drugs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: A Modeling and Cost-effectiveness Study.

Background: We evaluated the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions targeting hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV infections among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Eastern Europe/Central Asia. We specifically considered the needle-syringe program (NSP), opioid substitution therapy (OST), HCV and HIV diagnosis, antiretroviral therapy (ART), and/or new HCV treatment (direct acting antiviral [DAA]) in Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Republic of Moldova, and Tajikistan.

Methods: We developed a deterministic dynamic compartmental model and evaluated the number of infections averted, costs, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) of interventions.