HIV/AIDS SITUATION IN THE SAARC REGION
HIV/AIDS continues to be a major public health problem in the SAARC Region. All eight Member States of the SAARC region are designated as low prevalence countries. On the basis of latest available information this region is home for estimated number of 2.6 million HIV infected people and 0.06 million AIDS deaths in 2019. Table 02 shows the estimated number of People Living with HIV (PLHIV) in eight Member States of the SAARC Region in the year 2019. Three countries namely India, Nepal and Pakistan account for majority of the regional burden. The first HIV infected persons were diagnosed in 1986 in India and Pakistan. By 1993, all SAARC Member States had reported the existence of HIV infection in their countries.
Table 02: Estimated Number of PLHIV, New HIV Infections, AIDS Deaths, Prevalence Rate and Incident Rate in SAARC Region-2019
| Country | Population(‘000)a | Estimated No. of PLHA | HIV Prevalence Rate (%) | Estimated New HIV infection (all ages) | HIV Incidence per 1000 population | AIDS- related Deaths |
| Afghanistan | 38000 | 11000 | <0.1 | 1500 | 0.04 | <500 |
| Bangladesh* | 163000 | 14000 | < 0.01 | 1600 | 0.01 | 580 |
| Bhutan* | 760 | 1300 | 0.3 | <100 | 0.11 | <100 |
| India** | 1366000 | 2348860 | 0.22 | 69220 | 0.05 | 58960 |
| Maldives* | 530 | N/A | N/A | N/A | NA | NA |
| Nepal | 29000 | 30000 | 0.1 | 790 | 0.03 | 740 |
| Pakistan | 217000 | 190000 | 0.1 | 25000 | 0.12 | 6800 |
| Sri- Lanka | 21000 | 3600 | < 0.1 | < 200 | <0.01 | <200 |
| Regional | 1835 million | 2.6 million | 98110 | 67080 |
Source: UNAIDS data 2020, *SAARC Epidemiological response on HIV/AIDS-2019, ** India HIV estimates 2019 report, a WHO Global Tuberculosis report-2020
The overall adult HIV prevalence in SAARC region remains below 1%. However, there are important variations existing between countries. Of the estimated number of 2.6 million PLHIV in SAARC region, 2.3 million were living in India in 2019 (Table 02).
Table 03: Progress towards 90-90-90 Targets in SAARC Region 2019
| Country | Percent of people living with HIV who know their status | Percent of people living with HIV who are on ART | Percent of people living with HIV who have suppressed viral loads |
| Afghanistan | 27 | 10 | N/A |
| Bangladesh** | 53 | 31 | 84 |
| Bhutan* | 47 | 37 | N/A |
| India* | 79.4 | 82 | 68 |
| Maldives* | N/A | NA | N/A |
| Nepal | 78 | 63 | 55 |
| Pakistan | 21 | 12 | NA |
| Sri- Lanka*** | 64 | 80 | 86 |
Source: UNAIDS data 2020, *SAARC Epidemiological response on HIV/AIDS-2019** Data sent by NASC, Bangladesh-2020, ***National STD/AIDS Control Programme Annual Report 2019, Sri Lanka
Table 04: Estimated Size of Key Populations in SAARC Region-2019
| Country | Sex Worker | Men who have sex with men | People who inject drugs | Transgender | Prisoners |
| Afghanistan | 11000 | 10000 | 26000 | NA | 2800 |
| Bangladesh | 140000 | 101700 | 33100 | 10200 | 73400 |
| Bhutan* | 1044 | 72 | 55 | 22 | 240 |
| India | 657800 | 238200 | 127500 | 26000 | 433000 |
| Maldives* | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Nepal | 67300 | 60300 | 30900 | 21500 | 22000 |
| Pakistan | 228800 | 832200 | 113400 | 52400 | 80500 |
| Sri- Lanka | 30000 | 73800 | 2700 | 2200 | 122000 |
| Regional | 1135944 | 1316272 | 333655 | 112322 | 733940 |
Source: http://aidsinfo.unaids.org/data sheet 2019, *SAARC Epidemiological response on HIV/AIDS-2019
Country wise estimated size of key populations has been shown in table 04. In the SAARC region, 1.1 million estimated size of Sex worker (SW), 1.3 million Men who have sex with men (MSM), 333655 people who inject drugs (PWID), 112322 transgender and 733940 prisoners were estimated key populations in year 2019.
Table 05: Elimination of Mother – to – Child Transmission in SAARC Region-2019
| Country | Pregnant women needing ARV for PMTCT | Pregnant women who received ARV for PMTCT | ARV for PMTCT Coverage (%) |
| Afghanistan | <500 | 24 | – |
| Bangladesh** | 35 | 29 | 82 |
| Bhutan* | 6 | 6 | 100 |
| India | 22617 | 13878 | 61 |
| Maldives* | NA | NA | NA |
| Nepal | <500 | 123 | – |
| Pakistan | 3600 | 417 | 12 |
| Sri- Lanka | NA | NA | NA |
| Regional | 26258 | 14477 | 55 |
Source: UNAIDS data 2020, *SAARC Epidemiological response on HIV/AIDS-2019, ** Data sent by NASC Bangladesh-2020
Elimination of Mother to child transmission in the SAARC Region there were 26258 pregnant women needing ARV for PMTCT, 14477 pregnant women who received ARV for PMTCT and 55 Percent ARV for PMTCT Coverage as shown in table 05.About 1.4 million people were receiving ART in year 2019 and 86500 deaths were averted due to ART in 2019 in SAARC Region (Table 06).
Table 06: Number of People Living With HIV Receiving ART and Deaths Averted Due to ART-2019
| Country | No. of People receiving ART | Deaths averted due to ART* |
| Afghanistan | 1044 | <200 |
| Bangladesh** | 4009 | <500 |
| Bhutan | 483 | NA |
| India* | 1373323 | 83000 |
| Maldives* | 11 | NA |
| Nepal | 18628 | 1100 |
| Pakistan | 22947 | 2400 |
| Sri- Lanka | 1846 | <200 |
| Regional | 1.4 million | 86500 |
Source: UNAIDS data 2020, *SAARC Epidemiological response on HIV/AIDS-2019, ** Data sent by NASC, Bangladesh-2020