Below we discuss our plans for revising the specific aims and timeline for our R01 titled """"""""Economics of viral STIs"""""""". Under the revised plan the project will be completed in 2 years, and two papers will be produced, but the overall goal of the project remains unchanged. The project aims to improve the understanding of how government and society ought to allocate resources between prevention and treatment for viral sexually transmitted infections (STIs) where treatment has significant benefits for the infected, but might have unintended adverse consequences for the uninfected population.
Recent breakthroughs in the pharmaceutical treatment of viral sexually transmitted infections (STI's) could have significant effects on the behavior of the infected and uninfected populations and consequently on the dynamics of viral STI epidemics. In this research, we propose to investigate the effect of new antiviral treatments on sexual activity and practices among the infected population, and how this impacts the sexual behavior and welfare of the uninfected population. Based on the results from the above analyses we build a behavioral model of viral STI epidemics that sheds light on the optimal treatment and prevention policy.
