AIDS COSTS IN TRINIDAD-AND-TOBAGO

This article examines the dramatic emergence of HIV/AIDS as a major public health problem in Trinidad and Tobago. While there were only eight registered cases of AIDS in 1983, by the beginning of 1992 Trinidad and Tobago had arrived at an incidence that put it in the 17th spot in the world, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The disease, which was first evinced among homosexuals, quickly spread to the heterosexual population. The cost of the disease, estimated in a human capital approach, has already made a dent on the GDP. Even the most conservative of projections suggests that the number of cases will rise by a factor of between four and five by the year 2000. Although there is little by way of comparative cost data on other diseases, AIDS/HIV, in all probability, could be very costly to the country.