Who Congratulates The Bahamas For Eliminating Mother-to-child Transmission Of Hiv

In a landmark accomplishment for Caribbean nationalist health, nan World Health Organization (WHO) congratulates The Bahamas for becoming nan latest Caribbean federation to beryllium certified arsenic having eliminated nan mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

I congratulate The Bahamas connected this outstanding achievement, which solidifies years of governmental commitment, and nan dedication of wellness workers. By ensuring that children are calved free of HIV, we are securing a healthier, brighter early for nan adjacent generation."

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General

"This accomplishment reflects sustained governmental committedness and beardown nationalist leadership, alongside nan dedication and compassion of nan wellness workforce," said Dr Jarbas Barbosa, Director of nan Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and WHO Regional Director for nan Americas. "As we look ahead, this milestone is not only a infinitesimal of nationalist pridefulness but besides an opportunity to build connected this success, advancing efforts to extremity HIV and different communicable diseases arsenic nationalist wellness threats crossed nan Caribbean and nan Americas."

Foundations of success

The Bahamas achieved this milestone by pioneering a broad and inclusive health-care model. Key to this occurrence has been nan proviso of cosmopolitan antenatal attraction to each pregnant women, sloppy of nationality aliases ineligible status, crossed some nationalist and backstage facilities. This attack is supported by a strong, integrated laboratory web and a rigorous testing protocol that screens women astatine their first antenatal assignment and again successful nan 3rd trimester.

Elimination of mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) interventions successful The Bahamas are afloat integrated into antenatal attraction standards and norms and implemented nether nan Maternal and Child Health (MCH) programme. MCH coordinates pinch nan National Infectious Disease Programme, which oversees nan prevention and curen of HIV and different sexually transmitted infections (STI). This includes nan preamble of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention, besides offered to pregnant women. To guarantee continuity of care, nan wellness strategy maintains capable monitoring for HIV-positive mothers and exposed infants, provides multi-month dispensing of antiretroviral medicines, and offers STI curen and family readying services free of charge.

"For years, The Bahamas person been moving very difficult to reside nan business of HIV/AIDS," said Dr Michael Darville, Minister of Health and Wellness of The Bahamas. "A batch of group person been progressive successful america achieving this awesome milestone – our nurses successful our nationalist wellness system, our nurses and doctors successful our tertiary health-care strategy and, by extension, each of nan clinics dispersed passim our archipelago."

From Cuba, nan first state successful nan world to beryllium certified, and Brazil – certified past year, The Bahamas now joins a prestigious group of 12 countries and territories successful nan Region of nan Americas astatine nan forefront of nan EMTCT movement. The Bahamas will proceed efforts to prolong these standards done integrated superior attraction and continuous surveillance.

The roadworthy to elimination

To person WHO certification, countries must beryllium they person sustained nan following:

• reducing nan mother-to-child transmission complaint of HIV to little than 2%;
• achieving less than 5 caller pediatric HIV infections per 1000 unrecorded births; and
• maintaining 95% aliases higher sum for antenatal care, HIV testing, and curen for pregnant women.

"Latin America and nan Caribbean has agelong been a beacon of advancement successful this world effort. From Cuba – nan first state successful nan world to beryllium certified – to Brazil's certification past year, and now to The Bahamas, nan region continues to lead pinch ambition and determination. Today, much than half of each countries and territories that person achieved elimination are from this region. This is simply a bequest of activity that inspires nan world," said Anurita Bains, Global Associate Director for HIV/AIDS astatine UNICEF.

"The Bahamas are showing that eliminating mother-to-child transmission HIV and different sexually transmitted infections is possible," said Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director. "This achievement reflects political will for steady finance successful superior wellness attraction and nan activity of wellness teams and people surviving pinch and astir affected by HIV. When women tin trial early successful pregnancy, commencement curen quickly, and stay in care, each kid has a amended chance of being calved free of HIV and different STIs."

The Bahamas' occurrence is portion of nan broader EMTCT Plus Initiative, which intends to destruct mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B, and congenital Chagas disease. Implemented successful collaboration pinch UNICEF and UNAIDS, nan inaugural is embedded wrong PAHO's Elimination Initiative, a location effort to destruct much than 30 communicable diseases and related conditions successful nan Americas by 2030.