World Health Organization Dubs Cuba First Country to Eliminate Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced in a news release on June 30 that Cuba is the first country in the world to receive validation that it has eliminated the mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.

WHO’s criteria for validation does not require that transmission be completely eradicated, but rather that less than 50 infections per 100,000 live births per year occur. In 2013, only two babies were born with HIV in Cuba, and only 3 babies were born with congenital syphilis.

According to WHO, there are 16 million women living with HIV worldwide. Approximately 1.4 million of them will get pregnant per year. Worldwide, approximately 1 million pregnant women are infected with syphilis, which can cause early fetal loss and stillbirth, neonatal death, low birth weight, and serious neonatal infection. 

“Cuba’s success demonstrates that universal access and universal health coverage are feasible and indeed are the key to success, even against challenges as daunting as HIV,” said PAHO Director, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne. “Cuba’s achievement today provides inspiration for other countries to advance towards elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.”

While Cuba is the first country to be awarded validation – a process that requires an application, documentation, and site visits – it is believed that other countries, such as the United States and Canada, have likely reached the elimination goal, but have not yet sought WHO validation.