Asserting the government's commitment towards the fight against AIDS, Union Health Minister J P Nadda today said that the National AIDS Control Programme will continue as a Central Sector Scheme 1.
"There had 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. This decision clearly demonstrates the government's commitment towards this cause," Nadda said at an event to mark the World AIDS Day.
Announcing policy decisions towards strengthening the fight against the epidemic, he said that government has decided to provide third-line treatment to HIV patients and increase the beneficiaries of Anti Retrieval Therapy (ART).
"The cut-off level for initiation of ART will henceforth be a CD4 count of 500. Till now, people with CD4 count less than 350 were given the treatement.
"With this decision, an additional 1 lakh persons will start getting benefit of treatment. NACO has been asked to gear up for these initiatives and we hope to start actual delivery in the coming weeks," the Minister said.
Nadda also launched a report by National AIDS Control
Organisation (NACO) 'India HIV Estimates 2015'.
According to the report, 21.17 lakh people are estimated to be living with HIV at the end of this year. Among these, around 40 per cent are female, while children (below 15 years) account for 6.5 per cent.
Eighteen per cent of these people are in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, followed by 14 per cent in Maharashtra, 9 per cent in Karnataka, 8 per cent in Gujarat and 7 per cent in Bihar.
HIV prevalence among adults aged 15-49 years has fallen from 0.34 per cent in 2007 to 0.26 per cent in 2015.
However, there has been increasing trend of HIV prevalance detected in a number of states and Union territories including Chandigarh, Delhi, Tripura, Punjab, Jharkhand, Haryana and Sikkim.
While decline trend persists in all the high prevalence states of south and north-east, the trend has stabilised in many states like Bihar, Gujarat, Mizoram and Uttar Pradesh.
