Guwahati, February 25 – Under Mission AIDS Suraksha, India aims to achieve control over HIV by December 1, 2027, said Rakesh Gupta, Director General of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), here on Wednesday.
Addressing the inaugural session of the three-day review meeting for the Northeastern states on the implementation of the National AIDS and STI Control Programme (National AIDS and STI Control Programme) in Guwahati, Gupta emphasised that the Northeastern region remains a priority in the national response to HIV, with 60 of the country's 219 high-priority districts located in the region, excluding Sikkim.
He said that the Guwahati workshop marks the beginning of an intensive, region-focused review and action-planning exercise to accelerate progress in high-priority districts across the Northeast.
Gupta, who is also the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), said the meeting aims to strengthen district-level planning and implementation strategies to achieve national HIV control targets quickly.
The state of Meghalaya is actively participating in the review, with focused discussions on accelerating progress in its identified high-priority districts – East Jaintia Hills, East Khasi Hills, Ri Bhoi, and West Jaintia Hills.
As part of intensified national efforts, eleven regional workshops titled ‘Suraksha Sankalp Karyashala’ are being organised across the country during February-March 2026, covering all 219 high-priority districts.
The Guwahati workshop marks the first in the series and covers the 60 identified high-priority districts across the seven Northeastern states: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura.
During the three-day meeting, representatives from the districts are discussing customised strategies to enable their districts to achieve the ‘Surakshit Plus’ status by meeting the global 95-95-99 targets.
These targets ensure that 95 per cent of all people living with HIV know their HIV status, 95 per cent of those diagnosed receive sustained antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 99 per cent of those on treatment achieve viral suppression.
The meeting is undertaking a comprehensive review of the implementation of the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) across the Northeastern region, with a particular focus on strengthening district-level ownership, assessing micro-level performance indicators, identifying implementation gaps, and developing corrective action plans aligned with local epidemiological trends.
Senior officials, including Project Directors of the State AIDS Control Societies and programme leaders from across the region, are participating in the review. The meeting is being conducted in three batches to facilitate focused, state-specific discussions.
These discussions are expected to culminate in clear, actionable roadmaps tailored to each state's epidemiological profile, reinforcing the government of India's sustained commitment to ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat and advancing the objectives of Mission AIDS Suraksha.
