Cuba Ends Mother-To-Child HIV

The Caribbean nation is the first to effectively eliminate the prenatal transmission of syphilis and the virus that causes AIDS, according to the World Health Organization.

Written byBob Grant

| 2 min read

Save for Later

Listen with Speechify

0:00

2:00

HavanaWIKIMEDIA, AARON ROCKETTWith only a handful of babies born with HIV or syphilis in 2013, Cuba has become the first country to earn certification from the World Health Organization (WHO) that it has eliminated mother-to-child transmission of the diseases. WHO and United Nations officials announced the achievement on Tuesday (June 30).

“Eliminating transmission of a virus is one of the greatest public health achievements possible,” Margaret Chan, the WHO director-general, said in a statement. “This is a major victory in our long fight against HIV and sexually transmitted infections, and an important step towards having an AIDS-free generation.”

Pregnant women have between a 15 and 45 percent chance of transmitting HIV to their unborn children or breastfed newborns. But administering antiretrovirals during pregnancy and to children can reduce that risk to about one percent.

Cuba—with help from a five-year program administered through the WHO and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)—stemmed such transmission through decades of testing and treatment among its citizens. In 2013, only two Cuban babies were born with HIV and five were born ...

Interested in reading more?

The Scientist ARCHIVES

Become a Member of

Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member?

Add The Scientist as a preferred Google source to see more of our trusted coverage.

Meet the Author

Bob Grant
Go to The Scientist's LinkedIn Page
From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
View Full Profile