A new study by health experts at Brown University's medical school say that it would be cost-effective to HIV screen its sexually active adult population - all 800 million of them. Although costs associated with testing are relatively expensive in India, approximately $3, it is still a $100 cheaper than introducing a first line of treatment for the infection.

India's government policies have made attempts to curb the growth of its population, but have not been successful in making any serious progress. Despite this, a recent study conducted by the group PLoS One points out that India offers a unique model for testing its adult population every five years. This compares to $100, the cost of anti-retroviral intervention, the first line of defense against HIV infection.

The established guidelines by the World Health Organisation stipulates cost efficiency of introducing medical therapy as saving a year of life in exchange for a value that is lower than three-fold the GDP per person. This translates to $3,900/year of life in India's case, reports The New York Times.

These results offer credibility for specific demographic groups and has established that Indians who are "categorically" at high risk for HIV - bisexual and gay men, call girls and female prostitutes, drug users on needles, migrant workers and those who visit STD clinics - would benefit from the same procedure, when done on a yearly basis.

This too was found to be a cost-effective measure as opposed to treatment of HIV. In this group, researchers say that early treatment of HIV helps to contain spread of infection. When HIV is treated early, it is not as infectious as in later stages. For this reason, it would make sense to provide frequent testing to ascertain early diagnosis and provide treatment. In turn, ­­­spread of infection would be stalled, said health officials.

The research on HIV was led by Brown University Alpert Medical School's Dr. Karthik K. Venkatesh. According to Mr Venkatesh, African countries struggle with HIV because their medical system is not up to par. But they do have access to cheap drugs for HIV treatment from Indian pharma firms. India has the potential to improve its fight against HIV since the local doctors are paid meager salaries; the infrastructure is intact and organised.

Mr Venkatesh told The New York Times that India is probably one of the most cost-effective places for fighting AIDS." African countries would require the support of foreign medical teams and equipment that might not be available at local hospitals.

A similar study was done in 2005 by Mr Venkatesh's team which revealed that testing of American adults every three to five years would be cost-effective in curbing HIV. However, this target has not been met. Current figures suggest that new cases of HIV infection in the U.S. tag at an alarming 50,000, The New York Times reports.