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Deccan Herald
5 days ago
- Health
- Deccan Herald
India has time-tested and proven capacity to manufacture HIV diagnostics, medicines: Expert
'Our HIV programmes should ensure that HIV prevention, diagnostics, treatment, care and support services are reaching everyone in need worldwide,' said Dr Gilada, President Emeritus, AIDS Society of India, and Governing Council Member, International AIDS Society.
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Health
- Indian Express
Discontinuing AIDS funding could trigger 4 million deaths by 2029, says new report: What are implications for India?
A new UNAIDS report has cautioned that a permanent discontinuation of support from the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for HIV treatment and prevention could lead to more than four million additional AIDS-related deaths and six million additional new HIV infections by 2029. According to the UNAIDS report, titled '2025 Global AIDS Update – AIDS, Crisis and the Power to Transform,' a historic funding crisis is threatening to unravel decades of progress. It pointed out how communities and governments had brought down the numbers of new HIV infections by 40 per cent and of AIDS-related deaths by 56 per cent since 2010. It also noted how huge gaps in HIV prevention had remained, with 1.3 million new infections in 2024—almost unchanged from the year before. The sudden withdrawal of the single, biggest contributor to the global HIV response disrupted treatment and prevention programmes around the world in early 2025. International assistance accounts for 80 per cent of prevention programmes in low- and middle-income countries. UNAIDS modelling shows that if the funding permanently disappears, there could be an additional six million HIV infections and an additional four million AIDS-related deaths by 2029. At the same time, the number of countries criminalising the populations most at risk of HIV has risen for the first time since UNAIDS began reporting data. Worldwide 9.2 million people living with HIV did not access life-saving treatment services last year. Among those were 6,20,000 children aged 0—14 years. This resulted in 75,000 AIDS-related deaths among children in 2024. As per the new report, 25.6 lakh people were living with HIV in India in 2024. A total of 64,000 new infections were identified last year in the country and around 32,000 AIDS-related deaths were recorded. India's HIV prevalence peaked in 2000, showing a continuous decline for the past two decades with 0.55 per cent in 2000, to 0.32 per cent in 2010, 0.21 per cent in 2021 and 0.2 per cent in 2023. However experts are concerned about the resurgence of HIV given the rise in new infections, especially in young people. 'This is similar to the rising trend in Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), Human Papillomavirus-HPV, Hepatitis B and syphilis,' said Dr I S Gilada, president emeritus, AIDS Society of India. That's why he is advocating increasing tests and screening to minimise new infections. UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said the funding gap was 'a ticking time bomb.' 'We have seen services vanish overnight. Health workers have been sent home. And people — especially children and key populations — are being pushed out of care,' Byanyima added. At a virtual press conference, Dr Beatriz Grinsztejn, IAS President told reporters, 'On the one hand, we are witnessing extraordinary scientific breakthroughs that could transform prevention and treatment and even bring us closer to a cure. On the other hand, these very advances are under threat from massive funding cuts that risk stalling clinical trials, slowing our progress, Now, more than ever, it is important for the world to hear directly from HIV researchers, scientists and affected communities.' As of December 2024, seven countries — Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Rwanda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—had achieved the 95-95-95 targets: 95 per cent of people living with HIV know their status, 95 per cent of those are on treatment, and 95 per cent of those on treatment are virally suppressed. The report also highlights the emergence of unprecedented, highly effective new prevention tools like long-acting injectable PrEP, including Lenacapavir, which has shown near-complete efficacy in clinical trials—though affordability and access remain key challenges. Anuradha Mascarenhas is a journalist with The Indian Express and is based in Pune. A senior editor, Anuradha writes on health, research developments in the field of science and environment and takes keen interest in covering women's issues. With a career spanning over 25 years, Anuradha has also led teams and often coordinated the edition. ... Read More
Indian Express
20-06-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
As US FDA approves HIV prevention drug Lenacapavir, expert says ‘India needs to take lead for its equitable, timely distribution
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday approved Lenacapavir (LEN), the most promising HIV prevention medicine to be made so far, and according to Dr I S Gilada, president emeritus, AIDS Society of India, the real breakthrough would be when LEN becomes accessible, affordable and available to everyone in India and across the world. Lenacapavir is an antiretroviral medicine that is used for HIV prevention as a pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP. PrEP is a medication that can reduce the risk of HIV infection for individuals who are HIV-negative but are at risk of contracting the virus. The results of two key studies have shown that it helps prevent 99.9 per cent of all HIV transmission. 'LEN is an injectable PrEP that is to be taken twice yearly,' said Dr Glory Alexander, president of AIDS Society of India (ASI) and founder director of ASHA Foundation, Bengaluru. PrEP was first approved by the US FDA in 2012, but the Indian government's National AIDS Control Organisation is yet to roll it out. 'If we invest in HIV prevention, we not only protect people's health but also save expenses in providing lifelong HIV care, including lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART). HIV prevention must remain at the centre-stage of our national AIDS response,' said Dr Gilada. 'Indian regulators should work with Indian generic manufacturing companies to ensure that 'made in India' generic LEN versions when available, are first rolled out in India,' Dr Gilada told The Indian Express. 'The scientific breakthrough translates into public health impact in terms of stopping the spread of HIV infection. The major impediment is the cost: LEN as PrEP to be sold as Yeztugo by Gilead is priced at US$ 28,218 per person per year. However, Gilead's wisdom by giving voluntary licenses to four Indian generic companies, gives hope that the medicine may cost less than US$ 100 – that is 0.3 per cent of the innovator's cost,' Dr Gilada explained. 'India needs to lead from the front for LEN's equitable and timely distribution at the required scale to prevent HIV transmission and help end AIDS,' said Dr Gilada, adding that only India can deliver LEN to all those in need worldwide, in terms of quality, quantity and speed. Though India meets 92 per cent of the global requirement for ART and the global community (WHO, UNAIDS, Global Fund, World Bank, etc) widely uses Indian generic pharma for their strategies like Treatment as Prevention (TasP), Test and Treat, Post-exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), PreP, etc, it is unfortunate that they are shy to acknowledge this, he said. Gilead had faced a lot of backlash from health advocates and communities last year over the astronomical pricing for LEN, pegged at over US$ 40,000 per person per year, which has now been slashed by 30 per cent. Earlier, Gilead's Hepatitis C treatment, which cost $84,000 in the US for a three-month course, was made available in India for less than $300. So the firm knew what was to be done this time, and granted voluntary licensing to six generic manufacturers, including four Indian: Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Emcure, Hetero Healthcare, and Viatris. 'All international antiretroviral therapy and prevention guidelines are conceptualised and implemented on the strength of India. Only India can meet the global demand for LEN at such low cost, just as it did for ART, at 0.3 per cent of the innovator's cost,' Dr Gilada said. Anuradha Mascarenhas is a journalist with The Indian Express and is based in Pune. A senior editor, Anuradha writes on health, research developments in the field of science and environment and takes keen interest in covering women's issues. With a career spanning over 25 years, Anuradha has also led teams and often coordinated the edition. ... Read More
