Lok Sabha Question No. 494 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-04
Subject: Awareness Campaign on HIV/AIDS and TB
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Gautham Sigamani Pon, Ganesan Selvam, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, C.N. Annadurai, Anurag Sharma, Manjulata Mandal, Dhanush M Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 494 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4 TH  FEBRUARY, 2022

## 'AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ON HIV/AIDS AND TB'

## 494. SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

SHRI ANURAG SHARMA:

SHRIMATI MANJULATA MANDAL:

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has launched phase two of awareness campaign on HIV/AIDS and TB recently, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  details  of  number  of  awareness  programmes  organized  by  National  AIDS  Control Organization (NACO) during the Phase I of awareness campaign on HIV/AIDS and TB along with the amount allocated and utilized State/UT-wise including Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu;
- (c) whether the Government has made any assessment of the success achieved during Phase I of awareness campaign on HIV/AIDS and TB, if so, the details thereof along with the various other  programmes launched by the Government  to control and  eradicate  HIV/AIDS  and TB from the country;
- (d) the challenges faced by the Government while fighting HIV/AIDS and TB in the country; and
- (e) the  other  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  engage  youth  as  community  volunteers  in generating awareness about HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, blood donation?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY

## WELFARE

## (Dr. BHARTI PRAVIN PAWAR)

(a) to (e):  Under the aegis of 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', the Government has implemented two phases of awareness campaigns on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Voluntary Blood Donation. Phase II  of  awareness  campaign  on  HIV/AIDS  and  TB  was  launched  on  12th  October  2021.  The campaign  endeavours  to  generate  awareness regarding  prevention  of  HIV/AIDS  and  TB, promotion of related services and reduce stigma and discrimination related to HIV/AIDS and TB.

During Phase I of the campaign, students from 834 schools and 889 colleges across the country were covered, including 25 schools and 100 colleges in the States of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. During the campaign, the students participated in various competitions like painting, online quiz, poster  making,  signature  campaigns,  mask  making  and  reel  making  competitions  to  generate awareness on HIV/AIDS and TB.

The  National  AIDS  Control  Programme  (NACP)  is  implemented  by  National  AIDS  Control Organisation (NACO) through State AIDS Control Societies (SACS) by allocating funds to them as grants-in-aid for providing HIV prevention, testing and treatment services. The States including Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu conducted the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' campaign from grants-inaid allocated to them for the year 2021-2022.

The awareness campaigns are a continuous process and regular activities are conducted in schools and  colleges.  Government  of  India  launched  National  AIDS  Control  Programme  (NACP)  to address the HIV/AIDS disease in the country. NACP's goal is to reduce annual new HIV infections and  AIDS-related  death  by  80%  since  the  baseline  value  of  2010  and  the  annual  new  HIV infections have declined by 48%. The achievement is 82% decline in AIDS-related death.

The key challenge faced in combating HIV/AIDS is stigma and discrimination.

.SACS  are  implementing  Adolescence  Education  Programme  in  Schools  and  Red  Ribbon  Club Programme in Colleges to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and Out of School Youth programme in community to engage youth for awareness generation.

The Government of India is implementing a National Strategic Plan (NSP) for Tuberculosis (20172025) with the goal of achieving the SDG targets related to TB by 2025, five years ahead of the global  target.    The  key  strategies  implemented  under  the  National  TB  Elimination  Programme (NTEP) are:

-  Early diagnosis of all the TB patients, prompt treatment with quality assured drugs and treatment regimens along with suitable patient support systems to promote adherence
-  Private sector engagement
-  Prevention  strategies  including  active  case  finding  and  contact  tracing  in  high  risk  / vulnerable population
-  Airborne infection control
-  Multi-sectoral response for addressing social determinants related to TB
-  Community engagement for a community led response
-  Nutritional support through Nikshay Poshan Yojana

As  per  the  Global  TB  Report  2021  by  the  World  Health  Organisation,  the  incidence  rate  for Tuberculosis  in  India  has  reduced  from  217/lakh  population  in  2015  to  188/lakh  population  in 2020.

The  key  challenge  in  fighting  Tuberculosis  is  raising  the  awareness  levels  of  the  community, improving health seeking behaviour of the population and addressing the social determinants of TB.

To  raise  awareness  about  TB  among  youth  and  adolescents,  the  National  TB  Elimination Programme has collaborated with Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram / Rashtriya Kishor Shakti Karyakram / Red Ribbon Clubs under NACP. Referral linkages for diagnosis and treatment of TB have been established with these programmes.