India's HIV Push: Delhi, Haryana Districts Target 95:95:95 Goals by 2027

The workshop was chaired by Dr. Rakesh Gupta, Additional Secretary & Director General, NACO.

S. P. Bhavsar (PHS Gr-I, NACO) delivered the background address, outlining the evolving epidemiological contours of HIV in India and emphasising the imperative for granular, district-driven strategies anchored in robust data analytics, targeted outreach, and strengthened service delivery frameworks.

In his keynote address, Gupta underscored that HIV/AIDS continues to pose a significant public health challenge, necessitating sustained vigilance, innovation, and coordinated action across all tiers of governance.

Referring to the globally endorsed 95:95:95 targets, he elaborated that the framework envisions that 95 per cent of all people living with HIV are aware of their status, 95 per cent of those diagnosed are on sustained Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART), and 95 per cent of those on treatment achieve viral suppression, thereby substantially reducing transmission and improving health outcomes.

Drawing attention to the current status, he noted that Delhi continues to face critical gaps, with only around 70 percent of identified individuals currently linked to or receiving treatment, highlighting the urgent need to accelerate treatment coverage and retention. In contrast, Haryana has achieved a cascade of approximately 81:83:95, reflecting encouraging progress, while also signalling the need for intensified efforts to improve diagnosis and treatment linkage.

Dr. Gupta further emphasised the critical importance of eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV, which can occur during pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding. He stressed that such transmission is entirely preventable through timely testing, counselling, and treatment, and called for strengthened antenatal screening and universal access to prevention services to ensure that no child is born with HIV.

Highlighting the broader national landscape, he informed that 219 districts across the country have been identified as priority districts for intensified HIV/AIDS interventions, of which 11 are located in Haryana and 7 in Delhi.

He further shared that Delhi currently records an adult HIV prevalence of 0.33 percent, with an estimated 59,079 people living with HIV, while Haryana has an adult HIV prevalence of 0.24 percent, with an estimated 59,642 people living with HIV.

Under this targeted approach, specific districts have been prioritised for strengthened programme implementation and close monitoring. In Delhi, the identified districts include North, New Delhi, Shahdara, Central, South East, South, and North West. In Haryana, the prioritised districts comprise Panipat, Rohtak, Sirsa, Jhajjar, Gurugram, Faridabad, Bhiwani, Hisar, Sonipat, Kaithal, and Fatehabad.

According to the Ministry of Health, district programme teams from these priority areas are actively participating in the Karyashala, presenting their progress, sharing operational challenges, and collaboratively developing targeted, outcome-oriented action plans to further strengthen the HIV response at the grassroots level.

Emphasising the need for a whole-of-system approach, Dr. Gupta called upon stakeholders across national, State, and district levels to work in close synergy, particularly at the field level, to bridge existing gaps in awareness, testing, treatment, and adherence.

He also outlined an ambitious and time-bound roadmap, reiterating India's commitment to moving towards declaring HIV/AIDS as an epidemic under control by World AIDS Day, 2027. In this context, he stressed the importance of striving towards an enhanced target of 95:95:99 at the earliest, with a strong push to achieve these milestones in the upcoming programme cycle.

The Suraksha Sankalp Karyashala serves as a vital platform for collaborative planning between national, State, and district stakeholders, reinforcing India's coordinated, evidence-based, and data-driven approach to HIV prevention and testing services. It aims to improve linkage and retention on treatment, enhance viral load suppression among people living with HIV, and expand targeted outreach among vulnerable and key populations.

Deliberations during the workshop are centred on strengthening programme implementation through enhanced inter-sectoral convergence, capacity building, and robust monitoring mechanisms, with particular emphasis on early diagnosis, prompt initiation of treatment, sustained adherence to ART, and the elimination of stigma and discrimination.

The initiative is aligned with India's commitment to achieving the global goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, and reflects the Government's steadfast resolve to ensure a comprehensive, inclusive, and people-centric approach to HIV/AIDS prevention and control, ensuring equitable access to quality healthcare services for all.

- ANI