![]() | |
Abbreviation | NACO |
---|---|
Formation | 1992 |
Purpose | HIV/AIDS control programme in India |
Headquarters | New Delhi |
Parent organisation | Ministry of Health and Family Welfare |
Website | http://www.naco.gov.in |
The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), established in 1992 is a division of India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that provides leadership to HIV/AIDS control programme in India through 35 HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Societies, and is "the nodal organisation for formulation of policy and implementation of programs for prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in India.". [1] [2] [3] [4]
Along with drug control authorities and NACO provides joint surveillance of Blood Bank licensing, Blood Donation activities and Transfusion Transmitted infection testing and reporting.[ citation needed ]
NACO also undertakes HIV estimations biennially(every 2 years) in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – National Institute of Medical Statistics (NIMS). The first round of HIV estimation in India was done in 1998, while the last round was done in 2017. [5]
In 2010, NACO approved the TeachAids curriculum for use in India, an innovation which represented the first time that HIV/AIDS education could be provided in a curriculum which did not need to be coupled with sex education. [6]
In 2012, National AIDS Control Organisation, along with other 16 organizations working on HIV/AIDS, ran an event "Hijra Habba" under the program of "Pehchan". The event witnessed more than a 100 representatives of the Transgender and the Hijra community from 17 states, interacting with members of the government, NGOs and Civil Society. [7]
HIV/AIDS in India is an epidemic. The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) estimated that 3.14 million people lived with HIV/AIDS in India in 2023. Despite being home to the world's third-largest population of persons with HIV/AIDS, the AIDS prevalence rate in India is lower than that of many other countries. In 2016, India's AIDS prevalence rate stood at approximately 0.30%—the 80th highest in the world. Treatment of HIV/AIDS is via a combination of antiretroviral drugs and education programs to help people avoid infection.
Red Ribbon Express is an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign train by the Indian Railways. The motto of the Red Ribbon Express is "Embarking on the journey of life".
Taiwan's epidemic of HIV/AIDS began with the first case reported in December 1984. On 17 December 1990 the government promulgated the AIDS Prevention and Control Act. On 11 July 2007, the AIDS Prevention and Control Act was renamed the HIV Infection Control and Patient Rights Protection Act.
The Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, or simply Durbar, is a collective of 60,000 sex workers in West Bengal. Established on 15 February 1992, in Sonagachi, the largest red-light district in Kolkata, West Bengal, India with estimated 11,000 sex workers, Durbar has been working on women's rights and sex workers' rights advocacy, anti-human trafficking and HIV/AIDS prevention. The Durbar states that its aims are the challenging and altering of the barriers that form the everyday reality of sex workers' lives as they relate to their poverty or their ostracism. Durbar runs 51 free clinics for sex workers across West Bengal, with support from organisations such as the Ford Foundation and the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), who also help Durbar in its initiatives like networking, rights protection and creating alternative livelihood for sex workers.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, also known by its abbreviation MoHFW, is an Indian government ministry charged with health policy in India. It is also responsible for all government programs relating to family planning in India.
The history of HIV/AIDS in Australia is distinctive, as Australian government bodies recognised and responded to the AIDS pandemic relatively swiftly, with the implementation of effective disease prevention and public health programs, such as needle and syringe programs (NSPs). As a result, despite significant numbers of at-risk group members contracting the virus in the early period following its discovery, Australia achieved and has maintained a low rate of HIV infection in comparison to the rest of the world.
The very high rate of human immunodeficiency virus infection experienced in Uganda during the 1980s and early 1990s created an urgent need for people to know their HIV status. The only option available to them was offered by the National Blood Transfusion Service, which carries out routine HIV tests on all the blood that is donated for transfusion purposes. The great need for testing and counseling resulted in a group of local non-governmental organizations such as The AIDS Support Organisation, Uganda Red Cross, Nsambya Home Care, the National Blood Bank, the Uganda Virus Research Institute together with the Ministry of Health establishing the AIDS Information Centre in 1990. This organization worked to provide HIV testing and counseling services with the knowledge and consent of the client involved.
Since the first HIV/AIDS case in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) was identified in 1990, the number of infections has continued to grow. In 2005, UNAIDS estimated that 3,700 people in Lao PDR were living with HIV.
With less than 0.1 percent of the population estimated to be HIV-positive, Bangladesh is a low HIV-prevalence country.
Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT) is an Indian non-profit and non-governmental organization which provides support for street and working children in the Delhi-NCR. It was established in 1988 with the proceeds from the film Salaam Bombay! directed by Mira Nair, which was about the lives and vulnerabilities of street children. The name Salaam Baalak Trust translates literally as "salute the child". Programs at SBT include repatriation, providing education, basic literacy and schooling, full care facilities for the young, drop-in shelters for older children, physical and mental health care, life-skills education, vocational training, sports, job placement and counselling in HIV/AIDS.
Bachi Karkaria is an Indian journalist and columnist. She has served as an editor at The Times of India and has also helped create new brands for the Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd media group. She is best known for her satirical column called Erratica in the newspaper and as the author of the best selling title Dare To Dream: A Life of M.S. Oberoi.
TeachAids is a nonprofit social enterprise that develops global health education technology products for HIV/AIDS, concussions, and COVID-19, based on an approach invented through research at Stanford University.
Udaan Trust is an Indian non-governmental organisation operating in the state of Maharashtra. It is the first HIV/AIDS organisation founded by homosexuals living with HIV/AIDS. Udaan focuses on issues of sexual health within the homosexual and transgender communities, particularly with regard to the prevention of HIV/AIDS. In order to accomplish this, Udaan provides services such as condom distribution, sex education, counseling, and medical services to at-risk populations.
Founded in 1999, Alliance India is a non-governmental organisation operating in partnership with civil society, government and communities to support sustained responses to HIV in India that protect rights and improve health. Complementing the Indian national programme, we build capacity, provide technical support and advocate to strengthen the delivery of effective, innovative, community-based HIV programmes to vulnerable populations: sex workers, men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender people, hijras, people who inject drugs (PWID), and people living with HIV.
Suraksha Clinic are a chain of STI/RTI Clinics. These clinics are established by National AIDS Control Organisation for the better health services and for the prevention of HIV/AIDS in India.
Voluntary Health Services, popularly known as the VHS Hospital, is a multispecialty tertiary care referral hospital in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, reportedly serving the economically weaker sections of the society. It was founded in 1958 by Krishnaswami Srinivas Sanjivi, an Indian physician, social worker and a winner of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards and is run by a charitable non governmental organization of the same name. The hospital is situated along Rajiv Gandhi Salai at Taramani, in Chennai.
Sex education is controversial subject in India, sometimes viewed as a taboo topic; across the country and within the community, opinions on how or whether to deliver it are divided. The states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have banned or refused to implement sex education in schools. The Hindu nationalist government in Madhya Pradesh said sex education had "no place in Indian culture" and plans to introduce yoga in schools instead. On the global level, India has notably fallen behind numerous countries, including underdeveloped and significantly smaller countries such as Sudan and the Congo Republic, where sex education is first taught at the primary level.
Blood donations in India are conducted by organisations and hospitals through blood donation camps. Donors can also visit blood banks in hospitals to donate blood. Efforts by the government and advocacy groups over the years have helped bridge the gap between demand and supply. The regulatory framework for blood donation and blood bank management rests with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, while technical bodies like the National Blood Transfusion Council and National AIDS Control Organisation formulate guidelines and recommendations for transfusion medicine and blood bank management. Challenges persist with regards to regulation of blood banks and transfusion practices as the sector is largely fragmented with uneven distribution of blood banks and supply of blood in parts of the country. Donors are usually provided with refreshments after the procedure, which include glucose drinks, biscuits and fruits. Some organisations offer transportation facilities, as well as certificates or badges as gratitude.
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Act, 2017, often shortened to the HIV/AIDS Prevention Act, is an act of the Parliament of India that provides for controlling and preventing of HIV/AIDS and securing the rights of individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. The bill for the act was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 11 February 2014 and was referred to a Standing Committee on 24 February 2014, which submitted its report on 29 April 2015. After few amendments to the original 2014 bill, it was passed by the Rajya Sabh on 21 March 2017 and the Lok Sabha on 11 April 2017. It received Presidential assent on 20 April 2017, and became effective from 10 September 2018. The HIV/AIDS Prevention Act originated from a draft bill submitted by Lawyers Collective, a non-governmental organization, to the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) in 2006. The act penalises propagation of hate against HIV/AIDS affected persons, ensures the right of HIV/AIDS affected minors to shared household, protects non-disclosure of HIV/AIDS status in the absence of court order and mandates informed consent to disclose HIV/AIDS positive identity, inter alia. However, civil society organisations and HIV/AIDS affected persons criticised the act on certain legal language issues, as it mandates the state to provide HIV/AIDS affected persons with medical services "as far as possible". This aspect was absent from the draft bill submitted to NACO.
YR Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education is a non-profit organisation in India working in the domain of HIV/AIDS. The organisation was founded by Suniti Solomon in 1993. As reported in 2018, YRG Care had provided HIV prevention and treatment related services to about 21,000 people in India who were infected by HIV. After Suniti Solomon died, Sunil Solomon leads YRG Care.