Treatment Guidelines for HIV

The Government of India launched the free
Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) initiative in April
2004 across 6 high prevalent states and the
National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.
Since then, there has been a massive scale-up
and decentralization of ART services with the
aim to have universal access to life-saving
ART for all people living with HIV (PLHIV) in
need. There have been major innovations in
the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP)
in the last two years to improve the access to
ART and strengthen service delivery across
geographies. Some of these innovations
include Dolutegravir (DTG) transition, viral
load monitoring, advanced disease
management, rapid ART initiation and
implementation of differentiated care
models. These recent changes in the program
necessitated the development of a uniform
and standardized National Guidelines for HIV
care and Treatment 2021. In this new
consolidated National Guidelines for HIV care
and Treatment 2021, National AIDS Control
Organization (NACO) brings together all
existing national recommendations and
updates existing guidance.
The National Guidelines for HIV care and
Treatment 2021 was thoroughly reviewed by
clinical experts and practitioners and program
managers prior to publication. The National
Guidelines for HIV care and Treatment 2021
provides a comprehensive set of
recommendations for HIV management in
adults and children geared to achieve the 95-
95-95 targets by 2030. The guidelines are primarily intended for medical officers of ART
centers across the country and the clinicians
in the public or the private sectors who tend
to provide services to the people living with
HIV (PLHIV). These guidelines are intended to
be a reference manual, and a resource to
educate heath care workers when providing
health services to the PLHIV. It can also be
used for in-service health provider education
and training, as a source of up-to-date,
evidence-based recommendations, and as a
self-education tool for health care providers
on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment
of HIV/AIDS. The target audience for this
document also includes policy makers and
other health care staff, HIV program
managers, technical agencies, donors and
implementing partners supporting the
National AIDS Control Programme at all
levels.