NEW DELHI (NNN-Bernama) -- India is among the few countries that have made significant reductions in HIV infections amid extensive interventions for control of the epidemic, which seems to be stabilising now.
Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Ghulan Nabi Azad said HIV infections have declined by 56 per cent during the last decade to 120,000 in 2009 from 270,000 in 2000.
New evidence from the latest round of HIV Sentinel Surveillance shows further decline in the HIV Prevalence among general population as well as high-risk groups, he said at the inaugural ceremony of the HIV Vaccine Symposium in New Delhi.
One of the successful interventions of the National AIDS Control Programme has been the Targeted Interventions (TIs), whose main objective is to improve health-seeking behavior of high-risk groups and reducing their vulnerability and risk to acquire Sexually Transmitted and HIV infections.
There are 1,821 Targeted Interventions providing prevention services covering 81 per cent Female Sex Workers, 80 per cent Injecting Drug Users, 64 per cent Men having sex with Men, 40 per cent Migrants and 57 per cent Truckers.
Besides the domestic programme, India has been providing around 80 per cent of global antiretroviral (ARV) drug demand. Vaccines have been frequently cited as one of the most equitable low-cost, high-impact public health measures.
Historically, vaccines have impacted significantly the spread of infectious diseases such as smallpox, polio, measles, and yellow fever.
The eradication of smallpox was an outstanding display of concerted global action in a war against microbial invaders.
The progress in expanding polio and measles vaccination efforts and their elimination from many regions further demonstrated that vaccines are among the most powerful public health tools.
Azad said that India is committed to new forms of partnership with low-income countries through innovative support mechanisms and South–South cooperation.
He hoped that this joint venture would collectively shape the future of India’s inputs into the global HIV vaccine development attempts. -- NNN-BERNAMA
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