National AIDS and STD Control Programme

In News

The Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of the National AIDS and STD control programme.

About the News

• The approval is for phase-V of the programme.
• The continuation of the programme will be from April 1 to March 31, 2026 (a period of five years) with an outlay of Rs 15471.94 crore.

National AIDS and STD control programme

• What is it? The National AIDS and STD control programme is a Central Sector Scheme fully funded by the Government of India.
• Function: It was launched in 1992 and is being implemented as a comprehensive programme for prevention and control of HIV/ AIDS in India.
• Phases: Since then, four phases of NACP have been successfully completed.
  • The NACP I started in 1992, focused on slowing down the spread of HIV infections to reduce morbidity, mortality and impact of AIDS in the country.
  • NACP II launched in 1999 aimed to reduce the spread of HIV infection in India, and to increase India’s capacity to respond to HIV/AIDS on a long-term basis.
  • NACP III was launched in 2007 with the goal of Halting and Reversing the Epidemic over its five-year period.
  • NACP IV, launched in 2012, aimed to accelerate the process of reversal and further strengthen the epidemic response in India through a cautious and well-defined integration process over the next five years.

• Phase V of the Programme: The NACP Phase-V will take the programme towards the attainment of United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 3.3 of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.
  • 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 will include community system strengthening through formal and informal engagement with an emphasis on the decentralized model of district-level programme monitoring and community feedback loop.
  • It 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.
• Significance: The national AIDS response under NACP has been globally considered to be an extremely successful programme. This is because:
  • 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 initiatives 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.

Source:

• Union Cabinet approves continuation of National AIDS and STD Control Programme
• Cabinet approves extension of National AIDS, STD control programme to March 31, 2026

Image source:

• HIV in India
• World AIDS Day: 21,00,000 people in India live with HIV, says WHO report