World
Health Organisation hails ‘one of the greatest public health achievements
possible’, five years into regional initiative
The Guardian, Lisa O'Carroll, Tuesday 30 June 2015
Margaret Chan, the WHO director general. Photograph: Xinhua /Landov/ Barcroft Media |
Cuba has
become the first country to eliminate the transmission of HIV and syphilis from
mother to baby, the World Health Organisation has announced.
The WHO’s
director general, Margaret Chan, said it was “one of the greatest public health
achievements possible” and an important step towards an Aids-free generation.
Over the
past five years, Caribbean countries have had increased access to antiretroviral
drugs as part of a regional initiative to eliminate mother-to-child
transmission.
HIV and
syphilis testing for pregnant women and their partners, caesarean deliveries
and substitution of breastfeeding have also contributed to the breaking of the
infection chain, said the WHO.
Carissa
Etienne, the director of the Pan American Health Organisation, which partnered
with the WHO on the initiative, said: “Cuba’s achievement today provides
inspiration for other countries to advance towards elimination of mother-to-child
transmission of HIV and syphilis.”
It is
estimated that each year 1.4 million women living with HIV become pregnant.
Untreated they have a 15-45% chance of transmitting the virus during pregnancy,
labour or breastfeeding. The risk drops to just over 1% if the mother and baby
are treated with antiretrovirals.
Globally,
more than 35 million adults and children are living with HIV but the infection
rate has slowed significantly, with 2.1 million becoming HIV positive in 2013,
down from 2.9 million in 2005, according to UNAids data.
Scientists
have said eradicating Aids is feasible if HIV prevention continues to grow,
even if there is no cure. The reduction in infection rates in Cuba is seen as a
major breakthrough in the campaign to rid the world of the virus.
Incidence
of syphilis transmission is close behind with 1 million pregnant woman
worldwide infected. This can be eliminated with simple treatments such as
penicillin during pregnancy.
In 2013,
only two babies were born with HIV in Cuba, and only five born with congenital
syphilis.
According
to the WHO, the number of children born every year with HIV has almost halved
since 2009, to 240,000 in 2013.
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