Drug abuse and transmission of HIV during pregnancy are public health problems that adversely affect pregnant women, their children and surrounding communities. Programs to prevent HIV and drug abuse are cost-effective and save money for mother, child, and society. Economic evaluations of programs that address these issues are an important tool to better understand the costs of services and create sustainable healthcare systems.

We found that many programs for drug abuse treatment and prevention of mother-to-child transmission are cost-effective and even cost-saving, but economic evaluations across studies differed greatly in approach and evaluation methods.

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