Cuba stamps out mother-to-child HIV

Cuba has successfully eliminated mother-to-child transmission of both HIV together with syphilis, the World
Health Organization (WHO) says.

The caput of the WHO, Dr Margaret Chan, called it i of the greatest populace wellness achievements possible.
It follows years of efforts to hand significant women early on access to prenatal care, testing together with drugs to end these diseases passing from female parent to child.
The WHO hopes other countries volition live able to attain the same.

Eliminating infections

Every year, globally, around 1.4 1000000 women living amongst HIV go pregnant.
Untreated, they take a 15-45% hazard of transmitting the virus to their children during pregnancy, labour, delivery or breastfeeding.

That jeopardy drops to nearly 1% if antiretroviral medicines are given to both mothers together with their babies.
And each year, nearly a 1000000 significant women worldwide are infected amongst syphilis.
Again, early on screening together with handling of these women tin hand notice avoid complications for their unborn children.

In Cuba, according to the available official data, less than 2% of children whose mothers take HIV are born amongst the virus - the lowest charge per unit possible amongst the available prevention methods.

Globally, 7 inwards every x significant women living amongst HIV inwards low- together with middle-income countries have effective antiretroviral medicines to foreclose transmission of the virus to their children.

Among the 22 countries that business relationship for 90% of novel HIV infections, viii take already reduced new

HIV infections amid children past to a greater extent than than 50% since 2009 (based on 2013 data) together with some other 4 are shut to this mark, the WHO says.

And past 2014, to a greater extent than than forty countries were testing 95% or to a greater extent than of significant women inwards prenatal attention for syphilis.
But experts tell many countries must however make to a greater extent than to foreclose together with process syphilis.

Dr Carissa Etienne, of the Pan American Health Organization, which has been working amongst the WHO, said: "Cuba's achievement today provides inspiration for other countries to further towards elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV together with syphilis."

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