BY TC News Desk
Agartala, 27th February 2026: The three-day Suraksha Sankalp Karyashala under Mission AIDS Suraksha concluded in Guwahati today, with a renewed thrust on strengthening district-level HIV response strategies across the Northeastern states, particularly Tripura and Nagaland.
Addressing the concluding session, Dr. Rakesh Gupta, Additional Secretary and Director General of the National AIDS Control Organisation under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, reaffirmed the Government of India’s resolve to end AIDS as a public health threat. He said India has set a clear national goal to achieve HIV control by December 1, 2027, stressing that high-priority districts must translate this commitment into measurable outcomes in line with the global 95-95-99 targets.
While the final day reviewed 15 high-priority districts in Nagaland, special attention was drawn to the evolving HIV scenario in Tripura. The state currently has an adult HIV prevalence of 0.39 per cent, with an estimated 11,000 people living with HIV. Discussions assessed seven districts—Dhalai, Gomati, Khowai, North Tripura, South Tripura, Unakoti and West Tripura—focusing on district-specific interventions.
Experts highlighted the rising trend of Injecting Drug Use (IDU) in Tripura as an emerging public health concern. The workshop underscored the need to strengthen peer-led targeted interventions, scale up harm reduction services such as Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST), improve early diagnosis, ensure stronger linkage to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) and enhance treatment adherence to achieve sustained viral suppression.
Dr. Nupur Debbarma, MD, NHM Tripura, participated in the deliberations and shared insights on addressing IDU-related vulnerabilities and improving service delivery mechanisms in high-burden districts of the state.
Over the three days, comprehensive reviews were conducted for all 60 identified high-priority districts across the Northeastern region. The deliberations are expected to culminate in clear, time-bound, district-specific action plans aligned with state-wise epidemiological profiles, reinforcing India’s sustained commitment to ending AIDS as a public health threat.
