The government has decided that the lifesaving antiretroviral drugs for HIV patients will be offered to even those with a slightly higher CD4 count of 500. Speaking at a function to mark World Aids Day in New Delhi, Health Minister J P Nadda said with in week the process will be started and more than one lakh people will be involved in it. <br/><br/>Till now, in India, only those with a CD4 cell count of less than 350 are treated under the ART programme. CD4 cell count is a crucial marker of how aggressively the virus is destroying the body's immune system.<br/><br/>Mr Nadda also informed 3rd Line treatment for AIDS-affected will start soon in response to longstanding demand. The Minister said government is serious about ending AIDS disease, and will fund all the expenses for the efforts. He said there is no room for complacency as there is need to evolve endgame strategy, and bring AIDS to an end by 2030. <br/><br/>Releasing HIV Estimates Report for 2015, the Health Minister said there is a need for support from various quarters as stigma of AIDS patients cannot be removed by legislation alone. He said India has shown commitment to give affordable medicines to Africa on initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. <br/><br/>Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Health, Shripad Naik said success of India's AIDS control programme is due to the efforts of all stakeholders. He said efforts should be made to ensure that the unaffected 99.73 per cent of the population remain that way. During the programme the minister launched HIV Sensitive Social Protection Portal along with other schemes to combat AIDS epidemic in the country. <br/><br/>According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the HIV infections have declined by 66 percent in 2015, while AIDS related deaths by 54 between 2007 and 2015. It also said, around 4.5 lakh AIDS related deaths averted due to Rapid scale up of Antiretroviral Therapy treatment. The number of people living with HIV in India is estimated at 21.17 lakhs in 2015 compared with 22.26 lakhs in 2007.