“Eliminating transmission of a virus is one of the greatest public health achievements possible”, says WHO chief Margaret Chan. Without treatment, there is a 15 to 45 percent chance of transmitting the virus to the child at some point during the pregnancy, delivery, or while breastfeeding.
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The researchers found additional years of secondary school, defined as grades 8-12, were associated with significantly lower risk of HIV, especially for women, whose HIV risk dropped by 12 percentage points with each added year of secondary school. Just two babies were born with HIV in Cuba in 2013, while 5 were born with syphilis, according to figures verified by the WHO and the Pan American Health Organization.
Beyond that, almost 1 million pregnant women worldwide are infected with syphilis annually, the World Health Organization said.
Cuba on Tuesday became the first country in the world to eradicate the transmission of HIV and syphilis from mother to newborn, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“Cuba’s achievement today provides inspiration for other countries to advance towards elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis”, said PAHO Director Dr Carissa F. Etienne.
“Expanding the opportunities of young people through secondary schooling will not only have economic benefits but will also yield health benefits and should be a key priority for countries with generalized HIV epidemics”, Prof.
Over the past five years, Caribbean countries have had increased access to antiretroviral drugs as part of a regional initiative to eliminate mother-to-child transmission.
The findings also show that increasing secondary schooling has the potential to be a very cost-effective as an HIV prevention intervention in endemic countries. This global movement has galvanized political leadership, innovation and engagement of communities to ensure that children remain free from HIV and that their mothers stay alive and well.
Comprised of experts from 10 countries including Argentina, Japan and Zambia, the mission considered a number of indicators – all of which must be met for at least one year – including confirming that new child infections as a result of mother-to-child transmissions are less than 50 cases per 100,000 live births.
For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data from about 7,000 people, Medical News Today reported.
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The Cuba designation included a five-day visit by world health officials to the island nation in March to tour health centers, laboratories and government offices.
