Introduction
Staff Details
Activities
Research and Publication
Technical Guidelines
Unit/Laboratories
Contact Us
Introduction
Centre for AIDS and Related Diseases
Officers: Dr. Aarti Tewari& Dr. Bibhash Nandi
Mandate of the Division:
- The Centre provides HIV counseling and testing services to the walk-in clients, both provider-initiated and client-initiated.
- It is one of the 13 National Reference Laboratories (NRL) for HIV testing under the aegis of National AIDS Control Organization (NACO).
- The NRL is linked with 13 State Reference Laboratories (SRLs) in the states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir for External Quality Assessment Scheme (EQAS) for HIV testing and for confirmation of HIV serostatus of all samples with indeterminate / discordant resultsby Western Blot test.
- The NRL is a part of a Consortium of Kit Quality Testing Laboratories across India, with a mission to develop a national system for assuring Transfusion Transmitted Infections (TTI) test quality by a consortium with uniform approaches and procedures.
- The labs and units of the Centre participate in EQAS activities for HIV testing & CD4 count estimation and syphilis testing conducted by NARI Pune and VMMC &Safdarjung Hospital respectively.
- CARD functions as a NACO designated Referral Laboratory for HIV-2 confirmation.
- Under HIV Sentinel Surveillance, the Centre is involved in HIV testing of Dried Blood Spot (DBS) samples and performing Quality Control testing of samples received from various Sentinel Sites in North India where the specimens are tested for four biomarkers i.e., HIV, Syphilis, HBV, and HCV.
- Absolute CD4 count and CD4 percentage estimation of HIV positive samples.
- Testing for Syphilis by RPR and TPHA.
- Capacity building activities at the Centre involve conducting EQAS Workshops for staff of linked SRLs, IEC activities for HIV/AIDS awareness.
- Provides technical support to the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP).
- CA&RD is one of the designated laboratories for HIV testing on DBS samples under National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6).
Laboratories/ units under the Division:
- Integrated Counseling and Testing Centre
- National Reference Laboratory for HIV
- Immunology Laboratory
- STI and Opportunistic Infections Laboratory
- HIV Serology Laboratory
- Blood Collection Centre
- HIV-2 Referral Laboratory
Achievements:
- The Centre achieved NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) accreditation in the field of medical testing in the year 2011 and is obtaining its renewal from NABL every two years as per ISO 15189:2012.
- The National Reference Lab (NRL) at CARD is carrying out the preparation, maintenance and biannual distribution of Proficiency testing (PT) panels for HIV serology to 13 SRLs and to their linked 432 ICTCs in the Medical colleges in the states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir to ensure quality HIV testing.
- The NRL has successfully conducted workshops on EQAS for HIV Testing for Lab Technicians and Technical Officers of linked SRLs annually.
Staff Details
Staff Details
Head of the Division
Dr. Aarti Tewari
Joint Director and Section In-charge
MBBS, MD
Dr. Bibhash Nandi
Deputy Director
MBBS, MD
Other Staff in the Division
Mrs Sasmita Kar
B.Sc
Assistant Research Officer
Mr Charan Singh
B.Sc
Assistant Research Officer
Dr. Sunil Kumara S.
M. Sc. , Ph.D
Research Assistant
Ms. Neha J. Tigga
M. Sc.
Research Assistant
Dr. Surbhi Mahajan
M. Sc., Ph.D
Research Assistant
Ms. Preeti Diwakar
M.Sc.
Research Assistant
Ms. Hitakshi Setia
M.Sc., B.Ed.
Research Assistant
Mr. Divakar Sharma
B.Sc.
Technician
Mr. Rajesh Kumar
HSC
Laboratory Assistant
Mr. Mohit Kumar
Diploma
MTS
Activities
Relevant photographs of various activities of the CA&RD division –
- IEC activities for HIV/AIDS awareness –
The Centre has successfully organized a Nukkad Natak (street play) to raise awareness on HIV/AIDS on the occasion of World AIDS Day on 01st December 2022 for all staff and officers of NCDC and NCVBDC along with daily wage workers and construction workers who are presently working in NCDC campus.
- Poster Making Competition on the eve of World AIDS Day
- NCDC conducts Workshop on “External Quality Assessment Scheme (EQAS) for HIV testing” for 13 State Reference Laboratories (SRLs)
- Hands-on Training on ELISA technique of technical staff at NCDC, Delhi
- Training of technical staff from various laboratory divisions on Bio-medical Waste Management at Central Bio-medical Waste Storage Facility at NCDC, Delhi
Research and Publication
Technical Guidelines
Unit/Laboratories
Services provided by CA&RD division:
- Counseling for HIV/AIDS: Pre and post test counseling of walk-in clients attending Integrated and counseling and testing centre (ICTC).
- All confirmed HIV positive patients tested at ICTC are referred to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) centres for treatment. All Syphilis positive patients are referred to STI centres for treatment and all suspected TB patients are referred to RNTCP.
- Provide services of Awareness on HIV/AIDS and facilitation of HIV Counseling & Testing of general population and high risk population in different regions of Delhi.
- HIV-2 referral centre: Confirmation of HIV-1+2 and HIV-2 is done for HIV positive patients referred from ART centres of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.
- Evaluation of diagnostic kits (Rapid and ELISA) for HIV/HBV/HCV.
Name of tests done with turnaround time
| Name of tests | Turnaround time |
| HIV test (ICTC Client) | One working Day |
| HIV test (Referred) | ELISA-: 7 Working days Western blot : One month |
| CD4 count test (Referred HIV Positive samples from ART centres) | One working day |
| Syphilis test | Two working days |
| Kit evaluation of HIV/ HBV/ HCV | 10 working days |
Name and contact number of concerned official/officer-
- ICTC Counselor- 011-23909327
PART-II: PRIMARY SAMPLE COLLECTION
(To be filled by CARD Blood Collection Centre / Linked Centers collecting blood)
PART-III: SUITABILITY OF SAMPLE
(To be filled by ICTC / Serology / Immunology Laboratory/ STD-OI Laboratory)
Contact Us
Contact Us
Full Mailing Address:
Centre for AIDS and Related Diseases (CA&RD) National Centre for Disease Control, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
N/A
011-20832460
nrl.nicd@gmail.com
