New Delhi, Mar 21 (IANS): The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the continuation of the centrally-funded National AIDS and STD Control Programme (NACP, Phase V) for a period of five years from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2026.

The total outlay of the programme will be Rs 15,471.94 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 of NACP concluded on March 31, 2021.

The NACP Phase V will take forward the national AIDS and STD response till FY 2025-26 towards the attainment of United Nations' sustainable development goal (SDG) 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.

Meanwhile, the number of annual new HIV infections in India has declined by 48 per cent against the global average of 31 per cent (baseline year 2010). The annual AIDS-related deaths have declined by 82 per cent against the global average of 42 per cent (baseline year 2010). As a result, HIV prevalence in India continues to be low with an adult HIV prevalence of 0.22 per cent.

As per the Union Health Ministry, around 14.20 lakh people living with HIV (PLHIV) are taking lifelong, free, high-quality anti-retroviral treatment (ART) from the programme supported facilities, which is one of the world's largest cohorts of PLHIV under government-funded treatment programmes.