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Prisons, which are hazardous places for various contagious diseases, carry additional risks for HBV and HCV because of the communal lifestyle (common use of tools like razor blades, tattoo applications, intravenous drug use and homosexual intercourse). The purpose of this paper is to determine the prevalence of HBV and HCV, and also provide information for prisoners in this respect.

This study included 180 prisoners from the Buca F-Type Closed Prison, and 180 prisoners from the Foça Open Prison in Turkey. After the training seminars, serum levels of HBsAg, anti HBs, anti HBc total and anti HCV in the prisoners were assessed using the MICROELISA method.

All the prisoners were male. The mean age was 40(21–73) years. According to the results of 360 prisoners from both prisons, 17 (4.7 percent) prisoners were HBsAg positive and were diagnosed as HBV. Isolated anti HBs was positive in 33 (9.1 percent) prisoners who had been previously vaccinated. In 25 (6.9 percent) prisoners isolated Anti HBc total was positive, and in 61 (16.9 percent) prisoners both Anti HBs and Anti HBc total was positive in those who were considered to be recovered from the HBV. Anti HCV was positive in 2 (0.5 percent) prisoners; the process was repeated twice, and found to be repeatedly positive. Coinfection of HBV and HCV was not detected.

In this study, the prevalence of HBV and HCV was determined to be similar to those in the normal population. However, it is not expedient to generalize this result and apply it to all prisons. For the sake of public health, prisons should be scanned for infectious diseases, and vaccinations must be applied as necessary, in order to provide protection.

It is a study to determine the prevalence of HBV and HCV in the prisoner population, which constitute one of the risk groups because of the communal lifestyle (common use of some tools such as the razor blade, tattoo applications, intravenous drug use and homosexual intercourse), and to compare the results with other groups in Turkey and globally.

The purpose of this study is to estimate the average cost of treatment and investigate the related parameters of HIV/AIDS among patients based on their annual treatment regime during the 2017 in Izmir.

The average annual direct cost of an HIV patient's treatment was estimated for 2017 at four university hospitals in a retrospective study in Izmir, Turkey. Inclusion criteria included confirmed HIV infection, age = 18 years, visited one of the hospitals at least three times a year and with at least one CD4+ T cell count. The average annual treatment cost per patient was calculated using accounting data for 527 patients from the hospitals' electronic databases.

The mean treatment cost per patient was US$4,381.93. Costs for treatment and care were statistically significantly higher (US$5,970.55) for patients with CD4+ T cell counts of fewer than 200 cells/mm³ than for other patients with CD4+ T cell counts above 200 cells/mm³. The mean treatment cost for patients who were 50 years old or older (US$4,904.24) was statistically significantly higher than for those younger than 50 years (US$4,216.10). The mean treatment cost for female patients (US$4,624.92) was higher than that of male patients ($US4,339.72), although the difference was not statistically significant. The main cost driver was antiretroviral treatment (US$3,852.38 per patient), accounting for almost 88% of all costs. However, the high burden of antiretroviral treatment cost is counterbalanced by relatively low care and hospitalization costs in Turkey.

The paper contributes to the literature by providing average annual treatment cost of an HIV-infected patient in Turkey by using a comprehensive bottom up approach. Moreover, cost drivers of HIV treatment are investigated.