UNGA

• The Union Health Minister addressed the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on prevention of HIV/AIDS.
• The Resolution 75/260 of UNGA deals with the Implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the political declarations on HIV/AIDS.

Important point:

• India’s unique HIV prevention model is centered around the concept of ‘Social Contracting’ through which the ‘Targeted Interventions Program’ is implemented with support from civil society.
• The program is aimed at behaviour change, communication, outreach, service delivery, counselling & testing and ensuring linkages to HIV care.
• Legal Framework: The HIV & AIDS Prevention and Control Act, 2017, provides a legal and enabling framework to safeguard the human rights of infected and affected populations.
• India is providing free anti-retro-viral treatment to close to 1.4 million people.
• It is a combination of daily medications that stop the virus from reproducing.
• The therapy helps in protecting CD4 cells thus keeping the immune system strong enough to fight off the disease.
• It, besides reducing the risk of transmission of HIV, also helps in stopping its progression to AIDS (a spectrum of conditions caused by infection due to HIV).

National AIDS Control Program:

• The National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) launched the first phase of the National AIDS Control Programme in (1992-1999).
• NACO is a division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• It was constituted in 1992 to provide leadership to HIV/AIDS control programmes in India through 35 HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Societies.
• India is gradually transitioning the people living with HIV to Dolutegravir (a safer and efficacious anti-retro-viral medication regimen).
• The target of Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV: For this, viral load testing facilities have been scaled up, and HIV counselling, testing and community-based screening for early diagnosis have been ramped up.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus

• HIV attacks CD4, a type of White Blood Cell (T cells) in the body’s immune system. T cells are those cells that move around the body detecting anomalies and infections in cells.
• After entering the body, HIV multiplies itself and destroys CD4 cells, thus severely damaging the human immune system. Once this virus enters the body, it can never be removed.
• The CD4 count of a person infected with HIV reduces significantly. In a healthy body, CD4 count is between 500- 1600, but in an infected body, it can go as low as 200.
• Weak immune system makes a person prone to opportunistic infections and cancer. It becomes difficult for a person infected with this virus to recover from even a minor injury or sickness.
• By receiving treatment, severe forms of HIV can be prevented.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT