Cuba becomes first to end mother-to-child HIV transmission

WOMEN may no longer transmit Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and syphilis to their child as Cuba, yesterday, became the first country in the world to receive validation from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Joint United Nation programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) that it has eliminated mother-to-child transmission of the virus.

A joint statement by WHO and UNAIDS noted: “Every year, globally, an estimated 1.4 million women living with HIV become pregnant. Untreated, they have a 15 to 45 per cent chance of transmitting the virus to their children during pregnancy, labour, delivery or breastfeeding. However, that risk drops to just over one per cent if antiretroviral medicines are given to both mothers and children throughout the stages when infection can occur. The number of children born annually with HIV has almost halved since 2009 – down from 400 000 in 2009 to 240 000 in 2013. But intensified, efforts will be required to reach the global target of less than 40 000 new child infections per year by 2015.

“Nearly one million pregnant women worldwide are infected with syphilis annually. This can result in early fetal loss and stillbirth, neonatal death, low-birth-weight infants and serious neonatal infections. However, simple, cost-effective screening and treatment options during pregnancy, such as penicillin, can eliminate most of these complications.”

WHO Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, in a press statement, said: “Eliminating transmission of a virus is one of the greatest public health achievements possible. This is a major victory in our long fight against HIV and sexually transmitted infections, and an important step towards having an AIDS-free generation.”

Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, said: “This is a celebration for Cuba and a celebration for children and families everywhere. It shows that ending the AIDS epidemic is possible and we expect Cuba to be the first of many countries coming forward to seek validation that they have ended their epidemics among children.”