17 Countries May Have Eliminated Mother-To-Child HIV Transmission: WHO

BOGOTA, Nov 30 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Data from 17 countries and territories across the Americas, including the United States, Canada and Chile, show they may have eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, the U.N. World Health Organization said on Monday. The countries were able to cut mother-to-child transmission of HIV by improving pregnant women's access to prenatal care, HIV testing and antiretroviral treatment, said the WHO and its regional arm in the Americas, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO). The 17 countries and territories, including several Caribbean islands, report "data consistent with dual elimination" of HIV and syphilis, with births in those places accounting for about a third of all births in the region, PAHO/WHO said. "The countries of the Americas have made tremendous efforts to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV, cutting new infections by half since 2010," Carissa Etienne, head of PAHO/WHO, said in a statement. PAHO/WHO considers a country to have eliminated mother-to-child transmission of the two diseases after a validation process that examines whether these goals have actually been met. In June, Cuba became the first country in the world to receive WHO validation that it had eliminated the transmission of HIV and syphilis from mothers to children. Still across the Americas, 2,500 children were born last year with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, according to PAHO/WHO.  Ensuring pregnant women get HIV t...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news