Key Points

Gilada, the only Indian serving on the International AIDS Society (IAS) Governing Council, assured the country has the potential to develop generic versions of the new lenacapavir -- a long-acting injectable drug that offers near-complete protection against HIV with just two doses a year.

“India has a time-tested and proven capacity to manufacture HIV diagnostics, medicines, and robust supply chain mechanisms to deliver them worldwide sustainably,” said Dr Gilada, also the President Emeritus, AIDS Society of India.

His comments amid a new UNAIDS report that cautioned that a permanent discontinuation of support from the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for HIV treatment and prevention could lead to more than four million additional AIDS-related deaths and six million additional new HIV infections by 2029.

The US, the largest contributor to global HIV funding, halted all assistance on January 20, following the swearing-in of the new US President Donald Trump.

Calling it “a historic funding crisis” the UNAIDS report threatens to unravel decades of progress made in HIV. With the remarkable efforts of communities and governments, the number of new HIV infections was brought down by 40 per cent and of AIDS-related deaths by 56 per cent since 2010.

“Global North may have given funds or bank loans to Global South nations, but it is Indian medicines that have made a profound difference in the fight against AIDS historically,” said Gilada.

He added that India has long been providing lifesaving ART and supplying it worldwide boosting health for more than 90 per cent of people living with HIV, but has never been credited by UN agencies.

Gilada noted that the HIV programme in India is 94 per cent funded by the government, and just 6 per cent comes from the Global Fund, as per NACO.

“The future of the HIV response must be nationally owned and led sustainable, inclusive and multisectoral,” he stated, citing the UNAIDS report which revealed that 25 of the 60 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have found ways to increase HIV spending from domestic resources into 2026.

Gilada emphasised that governments of LMICs need to prioritise health financing domestically and innovatively. He also appealed to them to explore innovative financing such as through social enterprise models.

Meanwhile, India had 2.54 million people living with HIV in 2023 (including 70,000 children), slightly up from 2.5 in 2022 and 2.4 million in 2021.

Alarmingly 68,450 people were newly infected in 2023, with 187 new infections daily, a slight increase since 2021. There were also 35,870 AIDS-related deaths in 2023, four every hour, though it has increased by 11 per cent in a year.

“Our HIV programmes should ensure that HIV prevention, diagnostics, treatment, care, and support services reach everyone in need worldwide,” Gilada said.

“We cannot end AIDS if we let HIV prevention slip off the radar. We have science-based HIV combination prevention options, we must deploy them optimally and make sure the rate of new infections declines sharply,” said Gilada.

- IANS