LUCKNOW, Dec. 1 -- People living with human immunodeficiency virus or HIV can live a normal life provided that they take their prescribed medication on time, experts said on the eve of World AIDS Day. Prof Nikhil Gupta of the department of medicine, who's also the nodal officer of ART (Antiretroviral Therapy) Centre at Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS) here, said a decline in the number of patients was witnessed in the last couple of years. "In HIV/AIDS treatment, TLD, which is a combination drug made up of Tenofovir, Lamivudine, and Dolutegravir, plays a vital role. It is highly effective to the effect that it can reduce the viral load within a month with minimum side effects. A person living with HIV can have a nearly normal life by taking the medicines regularly throughout," he noted. Prof KK Sawlani of the department of medicine at King George's Medical University (KGMU) said that in the case of HIV positive pregnant mothers, patients with suppressed viral load or under 1000 copies/ml are those who take their medicines regularly without disruption. "If this is the case, the chances of the baby getting infected with the virus from the mother are minimal. However, if the viral load is over 1000 copies/ml, then the child is more prone to getting infected. In such cases, profile access therapy is given to the baby in the first six weeks," he added. According to the WHO, an estimated 40.8 million people in the world were living with HIV at the end of 2024. Of this total, 1.4 million were children (0-14 years old) and 39.4 million were 15 years and older. As per NACO ( National AIDS Control Organisation), which works in conjunction with WHO guidelines, an estimated 1.61 lakh people were living with HIV in UP in 2019....