Fig. 3

Construction of the BOC for Mykolayiv. The first step is to optimize the baseline budget (top left), which improves the outcome (top right; here using the example of minimizing the number of new HIV infections). The total budget is then scaled up and down and re-optimized (middle), resulting in a “staircase” of outcomes that can then be interpolated, thereby forming the BOC, with spending on the x-axis and the outcome (new infections) on the y-axis (bottom). Abbreviations: ART, antiretroviral therapy; HCT, HIV counseling and testing; NSP, needle-syringe program; OST, opiate substitution therapy; BOC, budget-outcome curve