There have been concerns in some quarters about the ability of some of the states to contribute their share to the programme. These doubts should now be laid to rest, said Nadda.
On World AIDS Day, union health minister JP Nadda announced major policy decisions towards strengthening India's fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It has been decided that the National AIDS Control Programme will continue as a Central Sector Scheme
"There have been concerns in some quarters about the ability of some of the states to contribute their share to the programme. These doubts should now be laid to rest," said Nadda.
He said that in view of the growing need for treatment services, the ministry has decided that the cut-off level for initiation of Anti Retrieval Therapy (ART) will henceforth be a CD4 count of 500.
With this decision, an additional 1 lakh people will start getting benefit of this treatment. It has also been decided to offer third line treatment to patients who need it. "NACO has been asked to gear up for these initiatives and we hope to start actual delivery in the coming weeks", the minister informed.
Nadda, on Tuesday, released the "India HIV Estimations 2015-Technical Report" and launched Distance Learning Programme on Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST), Integrated HIV TB e-learning module, PPTCT ART Linkage Software (PALS) and HIV Sensitive Social Protection Portal.
He expressed happiness over integration of Prevention from Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT) programme with the RCH programme and said this programme is continuing to scale up to ensure zero transmission from mother to child.
"I want every child born in this country to be free of AIDS and have the freedom to realise their dreams. The above steps are important milestones as we traverse the 90:90:90 strategy adopted by UNAIDS," he said.
The HIV Estimation-2015 report shows that India has been successful in achieving the MDG-6 of halting and reversing the HIV epidemic by 2015. The fact that new infections have declined by 66% from 2000 and 2015, and AIDS-related deaths fallen by 54% from 2007 to 2015, is a concrete proof that India has delivered on its global commitment in achieving MDG-6.
While India's success story continues, the current estimates highlight key challenges that will need to be addressed with urgency as the programme moves ahead to achieve NACP IV goals in the short term, the 90-90-90 targets in the intermediate term, and to end the AIDS epidemic in the longer term. The slow-down identified in the rate of decrease of new HIV infections in last few years is a key issue, while scope of improvements in ART and PPTCT coverage exists.
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