A mother living with HIV and her healthy, HIV-free baby receive a regular checkup at Hope Through Health’s main Kara clinic.
A report recently posted by the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that Cuba became the first nation in history to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV. In spite of its poverty, Cuba emphasizes the provision of basic health care services to all of its citizens. Such services include widespread testing and treatment for HIV/AIDS, which Cuba has provided since 1993.
According to the WHO, the Caribbean nation has achieved a pediatric HIV infection rate of less than 2%, the lowest rate possible using modern prevention methods. In other words, only 2 out of 100 babies born to mothers living with HIV are also infected with the virus. The WHO’s threshold for certified elimination is an infection rate of 5% or fewer babies. As a result, Cuba sought and was granted official certification for effectively eliminating the mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Many other countries have since requested to be recognized, including Bulgaria, Thailand and Turkmenistan.
This story is an encouraging reminder of the central mission of Hope Through Health: to provide basic, high quality health care to all individuals regardless of the latitude and longitude of their birthplace. Through our prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) program, HTH has achieved a 100% non-infection rate among babies born to mothers with HIV. If eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV on a larger scale is possible in Cuba, it’s possible in Togo and beyond. Our ultimate goal is to allow mothers and their children in Togo to live healthy, HIV-free lives for generations to come.
“Cuba is showing the world that the health of mothers and newborns is a priority and that it is possible to stop the transmission of the HIV epidemic to new generations.”
Marcos Espinal, Director, Department of Communicable Diseases and Health Analysis, PAHO/WHO
Read the WHO’s official feature on Cuba here.