The cocktail therapy for HIV patients costs $ 15-20,000 a year per person. The prophylactic use of AZT to reduce the risk of vertical transmission to infants during birth costs $ 50 per women. The annual per capita health budget in many countries especially the poor countries is only $ 10-20. In wealthy countries, infected mothers typically receive five months of AZT, a treatment that can cost more than $1,000. Doctors reported that a far less intensive kind of treatment works reasonably well, even though not as effectively as the standard U.S. approach.