India had an estimated 21.40 lakh people living with HIV by the end of 2017, with slightly more than two-fifth of them being women, according to a fresh report released by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) said. Maharashtra, at 3.3 lakh, had the highest number, followed by AP (2.7 lakh) and Karnataka (2.5 lakh).
It said the annual new HIV infection cases have declined by more than 60 percent since 2000, but the rate of decline between 2010 and 2017 have been 27 percent, far behind the pace needed to reach the 2020 target of 75 percent reduction in new cases of such infection.
Around 87,580 new HIV infections and 69,110 AIDS-related deaths occurred last year, the HIV Estimations 2017 report stated.
"The results of the 2017 round of HIV Estimations confirm the national declining trend in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths corroborating India's success story in curbing the epidemic," the report stated, but stressed that there is "no place for complacency" as new HIV infections are "stable to rising" in some locations.
"Between 2010 and 2017, new infections have declined only by 27 percent. While this is better than the global average of 16 percent, a new impetus is clearly needed to fast track HIV prevention efforts to achieve the 75 percent reduction in new infections by 2020 against the 2010 baseline," it stated.
The number of new infection cases are declining nationally, except for five states -- Arunachal Pradesh (65 percent), Assam (37 percent), Mizoram (18 percent), Meghalaya (10 percent) and Uttarakhand (four percent) where such cases increased last year in comparison to 2010.
In Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, and Nagaland, the decline has been 10 percent or less.
According to the report, HIV incidence per 1,000 uninfected population in 2017 was highest in Mizoram (1.32) followed by Nagaland (0.59) and Manipur (0.58).
The incidence rate is the number of new cases per population at risk in a given time period.
Telangana, Chandigarh, Delhi, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Daman and Diu and Puducherry had HIV incidence per 1000 uninfected population in the range of 0.11 and 0.26.
Sustained commitment and much more vigorous actions are needed to reach the ambitious prevention and treatment targets set for 2020 in view of ending AIDS by 2030, the HIV Estimations 2017 report stated.
Over 190 countries, including India, have pledged to end AIDS by 2030 by adopting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
As far as adult HIV prevalence in the country is concerned, Mizoram was at the top with 2.04 percent, followed by Manipur at 1.43 percent and Nagaland at 1.15 percent.
Telangana (0.7 percent), Andhra Pradesh (0.63 percent) Karnataka (0.47 percent), Goa (0.42 percent), Maharashtra (0.33 percent) and Delhi (0.30 percent) had higher adult HIV prevalence than the national average last year, the report highlighted.
Jammu and Kashmir had the lowest adult HIV prevalence in the country at 0.03 percent.
With 3.30 lakh people living with HIV, Maharashtra had the highest number of such cases, contributing 15 percent of total such population in the country.
Along with Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar contributed almost three-fourth of the total number of people living with HIV in country.
"As HIV incidence continues to be much higher in female sex workers, men who have sex with men, injection drug users and hijra/transgender people, these high-risk groups must continue to be the primary target of HIV prevention efforts," the report stated.
Since 2005, the number of annual AIDS-related deaths have declined by almost 71 percent.
AIDS-related deaths have dropped across India after attaining a peak in the period from 2005 to 2010, with the exception of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, Delhi and Uttarakhand.
These are states where the implementation of the ART (antiretroviral therapy) programme needs to be more closely monitored and strengthened.
Another critical target is elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV which, the estimations show, was within striking distance in many states and Union Territories with national Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) coverage of 60 percent in 2016-17.
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