The Saath-Saath project, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has completed its five-year programme in areas including HIV prevention, care and treatment on Monday.

According to a statement released by Fhi 360, the Saath-Saath project will be replaced by Linkages Nepal that will commence from October 2016 and will support in Nepal's goal of an Aids-free generation. The statement further read that the support will also be extended to country's achievement of the 90 percent diagnosis of HIV-infected and place 90 percent of these individuals on ART.

"USAID designed and implemented the Saath-Saath project (2011-2016) in consultation with and under the leadership of the Ministry of Health," the statement read. "The project met its goal of reducing the transmission and impact of Hiv/Aids and improving reproductive health among more than 500,000 key affected populations in 33 districts of Nepal."

The statement read that over the last 23 years, USAID’s HIV response and support contributed significantly to contain the HIV epidemic in Nepal. "It helped streamline and standardize the country’s HIV prevention and care services and supported Nepal to expand the availability of high quality HIV testing services along with access to anti-retroviral drugs for key populations," the statement read.