[pratyushag2]

This is the cost to the government and NGOs. Basically, this leads to a lifetime of consuming drugs which often need to be subsidized by the government and other orgs. Naturally, it also increases the probability of more people getting infected. The costs are hard to estimate but add up to a very large sum and consumes a lot of global aid money that could be better used if these babies weren't born with HIV.

Thanks for pointing that out. While the average estimated number is easily into the thousands of $$, there is not enough evidence to say that it is hundreds of thousands.