The World Health Organization (WHO), Country Office for Nepal, handed over antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to the National Centre for AIDS and STD Control (NCASC), under the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), Government of Nepal.
The drugs will support the program in the transition to the new recommended ARV regimen in Nepal which have been found to be more effective.
Dolutegravir (DTG) based regimen (TLD: tenofovir, lamivudine, Dolutegravir) is now the preferred first-line regimen in Nepal. Transition to the new regimen was the result of the finding of the HIV Drug Resistance study conducted by MoHP with support from WHO which showed resistance to the ARV drugs currently being used in Nepal and also based on recent WHO technical recommendation.
The HIV Testing and Treatment Guidelines 2020 refines the testing strategy for the infants, adults and pregnant, and introduces DTG as the first line drugs for all and advocates on rapid initiation of ART.
"Adoption to the new technical and strategic changes will be key to fast track achievement of targets for HIV in Nepal", stated Dr. Rajesh Sambhajirao Pandav, WHO Representative to Nepal.