Guwahati, Feb 25 (NationPress) As part of Mission AIDS Suraksha, India has set an ambitious goal to achieve HIV control by December 1, 2027, according to Rakesh Gupta, the Director General of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), who spoke in Guwahati on Wednesday.

During the opening session of a three-day review meeting focused on the implementation of the National AIDS and STI Control Programme across the Northeastern states, Gupta highlighted the importance of this region in the national HIV response, noting that 60 out of the country’s 219 high-priority districts are located here, excluding Sikkim.

Gupta stated that the workshop in Guwahati is the starting point for an intensive, region-specific evaluation and action-planning initiative aimed at enhancing progress in these high-priority districts.

Also serving as the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Gupta mentioned that the meeting's purpose is to fortify planning and implementation strategies at the district level, facilitating the swift accomplishment of national HIV control targets.

The state of Meghalaya is actively engaged in the review process, concentrating on hastening progress in its designated high-priority districts, which include East Jaintia Hills, East Khasi Hills, Ri Bhoi, and West Jaintia Hills.

In line with these intensified national initiatives, eleven regional workshops, termed ‘Suraksha Sankalp Karyashala’, are scheduled across the country during February-March 2026, encompassing all 219 high-priority districts.

This Guwahati workshop is the first in this series, addressing the 60 identified high-priority districts from the seven Northeastern states: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura.

Throughout the three-day meeting, district-level representatives will discuss tailored strategies to help their districts attain Surakshit Plus status by achieving the global 95-95-99 targets.

These targets stipulate that 95 percent of all individuals living with HIV are aware of their HIV status, 95 percent of those diagnosed receive ongoing antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 99 percent of those undergoing treatment achieve viral suppression.

The meeting will conduct a thorough review of NACP implementation in the Northeastern region, with a special emphasis on enhancing district-level ownership, evaluating micro-level performance indicators, identifying implementation gaps, and formulating corrective action plans based on local epidemiological trends.

Senior officials, including Project Directors of the State AIDS Control Societies and program leaders from the region, are participating in the review. The meeting is divided into three batches to ensure focused discussions tailored to each state.

The discussions are expected to culminate in actionable roadmaps customized to each state's epidemiological profile, reinforcing the Government of India’s ongoing commitment to eradicate HIV/AIDS as a public health threat and to advance the goals of Mission AIDS Suraksha.