Three more countries eliminate congenital HIV, syphilis
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Key takeaways:
- HIV infections among children in the Caribbean dropped by 25% between 2010 and 2022.
- Nineteen nations globally and 11 nations in the Americas have now eliminated congenital HIV and syphilis.
Belize, Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines became the latest nations to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) announced.
The dual elimination of congenital HIV and syphilis has now been achieved by 19 countries globally, including 11 in the Americas, according to PAHO.
WHO awards a certification of elimination to nations that have a mother-to-child HIV transmission rate under 5%, provide antenatal care and ART treatment for more than 90% of pregnant women, report fewer than 50 new cases of congenital syphilis per 100,000 newborns and achieve an HIV case rate of fewer than 500 per 100,000 live births.
“This achievement is a testament to years of dedication, hard work and collaboration among governments, health professionals and communities,” PAHO Director Jarbas Barbosa, MD, PhD, MPH, said at an event in Kingston, Jamaica, where representatives of the three nations received their certifications from WHO, according to a press release.
In 2010, PAHO member states committed to a plan to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, which was then expanded and renewed in 2016, with elimination of hepatitis B and Chagas disease added as goals.
Cuba in 2015 was the first country recognized by WHO for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. At the time, Cuba was under the 2% threshold for transmission of both infections for 3 consecutive years, and 0.25% of Cubans aged 15 to 49 years were HIV positive.
In the Americas, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Montserrat and St. Kitts and Nevis achieved the goal in 2017, followed by Dominica in 2020.
Overall, HIV infections among children in the Caribbean dropped by 25% between 2010 and 2022. Currently, cases of congenital syphilis in the Caribbean are estimated at 36 per 100,000 newborns, according to PAHO.
In the United States, cases of both syphilis and congenital syphilis significantly increased from 2021 to 2022 — by 17% and 30.6%, respectively. Experts have been investigating ways to identify more cases of syphilis and prevent mother-to-child transmission, and STD leaders have called for the U.S. to declare the situation an emergency.
References:
- PAHO. Belize, Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. https://www.paho.org/en/news/7-5-2024-belize-jamaica-and-st-vincent-and-grenadines-eliminate-mother-child-transmission-hiv. Published May 7, 2024. Accessed May 7, 2024.
- PAHO. Elimination of mother-to-child transmission of hiv, syphilis, perinatal hepatitis b and congenital chagas disease. https://www.paho.org/en/topics/elimination-mother-child-transmission-hiv-syphilis-perinatal-hepatitis-b-and-congenital. Accessed May 7, 2024.
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