Chandigarh, April 5 -- Pregnant women and their spouses in Haryana will undergo simultaneous HIV and syphilis testing, expanding screening to prevent mother-to-child transmission and early detection, said additional chief secretary (ACS), health, Sumita Misra on Saturday. The ACS, while chairing the 23rd executive committee meeting of the Haryana State AIDS Control Society (HSACS), said that as per National AIDS Control Society's revised antenatal care (ANC) estimation, the screening target in Haryana stood at 5,95,880 women in 2025-26. "Under the revised approach against an ANC screening target of 5.95 lakh pregnant women for 2025-26, the state will conduct nearly 12 lakh dual HIV-syphilis tests annually to include spouses, aiming to eliminate vertical transmission of both infections," Misra said. HIV-syphilis tests are point-of-care, single-use immunoassays that simultaneously detect antibodies for both HIV (HIV-1/2) and Treponema pallidum (syphilis) from a single blood sample, typically providing results in under 20 minutes. The ACS said the executive committee approved a proposal to develop a secure web-based platform for voice messages, SMS alerts, and follow-up reminders to all people living with HIV. The ACS said that Rs.47.16 crore HIV/AIDS action plan was also approved for 2026-27 financial year. She said a second HIV viral load laboratory will be made operational in Panchkula within a month....