The costs of antiretroviral drug wastage

The cost of the antiretroviral medications used to treat HIV infection is significant, accounting for the majority of the care costs in our regional population living with HIV, and will probably increase further. Difficulties arising from these complex therapies may lead to drug discontinuation, with the possible subsequent wastage of dispensed agents. In the light of the high cost of antiretroviral medications, an understanding of both the extent and the causes of this wastage would be helpful. Such information could then be used to modify practices to minimize the wastage and maximize the impact of the drug budget. Few published reports have focused exclusively on the issue of drug wastage. All of those studies indicate a need for programmes to optimize the use of medication and reduce its cost without decreasing services.