The Union Cabinet approves continuation of National AIDS and STD Control Programme, a Central Sector Scheme fully funded by the Government of India from 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2026 with an outlay of Rs 15471.94 crore by approving phase-V of the Programme.

 

The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the continuation of the National AIDS and STD Control Programme (NACP, Phase-V) as a Central Sector Scheme fully funded by the Government of India for a period of five years from 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2026. The total outlay will be Rs. 15471.94 crore. The national AIDS response was initiated by the Government of India in 1992 with the launch of the first phase of the National AIDS and STD Control Programme. Since then, four phases of NACP have been successfully completed. The Phase-IV (Extension) of NACP concluded on 31st March 2021.

 

The national AIDS response under NACP is globally considered to be an extremely successful programme. The annual new HIV infections in India has declined by 48% against the global average of 31% (the baseline year of 2010). The annual AIDS-related deaths have declined by 82% against the global average of 42% (the baseline year of 2010). As a result, the HIV prevalence in India continues to be low with an adult HIV prevalence of 0.22%.

 

Several gamechanger initiatives taken after 2014, like the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Act (2017), Test and Treat Policy, Universal Viral Load Testing, Mission Sampark, Community-Based Screening, transition to Dolutegravir-based Treatment Regimen etc have augmented the success of NACP.  As a result, around 14.20 lakh People Living with HIV (PLHIV) are taking lifelong, free, high-quality anti-retroviral treatment (ART) from the Programme supported facilities.  This is one of the World’s largest cohorts of PLHIV under government-funded treatment programmes.

 

The NACP Phase-V will take the national AIDS and STD response till Financial Year 2025-26 towards the attainment of United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 3.3 of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030 through a comprehensive package of prevention, detection and treatment services.

Benefits:

•           Around 8 crores of people will be covered annually with a tailored package of prevention-detection-treatment services.

•           More than 99.5% of the adult population will be kept HIV free.

•           Around 27 crore HIV tests will be undertaken, including around 14 crore among pregnant women, in five years of NACP Phase-V.

•           Twenty-one lakh HIV infected people will be on Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) by the end of the project period.

•           Around 80 lakh viral load tests will be conducted among on-ART HIV infected people to monitor the effectiveness of treatment towards the attainment of viral load suppression.

 

The Programme will offer free HIV Prevention, detection and treatment services in facility and community settings to high-risk, vulnerable and other ‘at-risk’ populations and PLHIV without any stigma and discrimination promoting equity and inclusiveness. The Programme includes community system strengthening through formal and informal engagement with an emphasis on the decentralized model of district-level programme monitoring and community feedback loop. The Programme will continue special attention to most at-risk populations, youth, and pregnant women offering a comprehensive package of services.  The community will be engaged in the design, concurrent appraisal and feedback to the project for providing strategic guidance and mid-course corrections.

           

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HFW/NACP Phase V approval/21^st March 2022/4

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