Benchmarking Antiretroviral Prices in Countries of the Former Soviet Union

Countries in the former Soviet Union (FSU) are encountering a rapidly increasing burden of HIV/AIDS, particularly among difficult-to-reach groups such as injecting drug users and commercial sex workers. Unfortunately, the high cost of many antiretroviral (ARV) medicines limits the ability of governments to purchase enough ARVs to treat HIV/AIDS.

This report, conducted by the Boston University School of Public Health and funded in part by OSI, benchmarks ARV prices of FSU countries against each other and against global and European region ARV prices. The study reveals that extreme price variation exists within and across FSU countries for identical ARVs, which suggests that some countries may be able to obtain ARVs at lower prices and therefore purchase additional ARVs to treat more people.