Cabinet approves extension of National AIDS programme to March 31, 2026

The Union Cabinet approved the continuation of the National AIDS and STD Control Programme from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2026, with a budget of Rs 15,471.94 crore, the health ministry said on Monday.

The programme is fully funded by the Government of India and is at present in its fifth phase. The national AIDS response was initiated by the Indian government in 1992 with the launch of the first phase of the National AIDS and STD Control Programme (NACP). The Phase-IV (Extension) of NACP concluded on March 31, 2021.

The NACP is globally considered to be an extremely successful programme, the ministry said in a statement.

The annual new HIV infections in India have declined by 48 per cent against the global average of 31 per cent (the baseline year of 2010), while the annual AIDS-related deaths have declined by 82 per cent against the global average of 42 per cent (the baseline year of 2010), it said.

As a result, the HIV prevalence in India continues to be low with an adult HIV prevalence of 0.22 per cent, the statement said.

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The ministry attributed the success of the programme to several initiatives, like the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Act (2017), test and treat policy, Universal Viral Load Testing, Mission Sampark, Community-Based Screening, and transition to Dolutegravir-based Treatment Regimen.

As a result, it said, around 14.20 lakh people living with HIV (PLHIV) are taking lifelong, free, high-quality anti-retroviral treatment (ART) from the programme supported facilities, making it one of the world’s largest cohorts of PLHIV under government-funded treatment programmes.

The ministry said the current phase will bring the country towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 3.3, which envisions ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.

Under the programme, the ministry said, around 8 crore people will be covered annually with prevention-detection-treatment services and more than 99.5 per cent of the adult population will be kept HIV free. In this phase, around 27 crore HIV tests will be undertaken, including around 14 crore among pregnant women.

By the end of this phase, 21 lakh HIV infected people will be on anti-retroviral treatment and around 80 lakh viral load tests will be conducted among on-ART HIV infected people to monitor the effectiveness of treatment, the statement said. The programme will offer these services without any “stigma and discrimination promoting equity and inclusiveness” the statement said.

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