WHO validates elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis in Thailand, Armenia, Belarus and the Republic of Moldova
WHO - "WHO congratulates Thailand and Belarus for their achievement of eliminating of mother-to-child transmission of both HIV and syphilis, and Armenia and the Republic of Moldova for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, respectively.
Eliminating maternal-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis is key to the global effort to combat sexually transmitted infections and to end AIDS by 2030.
Nearly 1 million pregnant women worldwide are infected with syphilis annually. This can result in early fetal loss and stillbirth, neonatal death, low-birth-weight infants and serious neonatal infections, often referred to as congenital syphilis.(...) The number of infants affected by congenital syphilis annually is estimated at 350,000 with over half of these occurring as stillbirths or neonatal deaths.
Every year, globally, an estimated 1.4 million women living with HIV become pregnant. Untreated, they have a 15-45% chance of transmitting the virus to their children during pregnancy, labour, delivery or breastfeeding. However, that risk drops to just over 1% if antiretroviral medicines are given to both mothers and children throughout the stages when infection can occur. The number of children born annually with HIV has almost halved since 2009 – down from 400,000 in 2009 to 240,000 in 2013. Intensified efforts are needed however to ensure these numbers continue to fall.
(...) Thailand, Belarus, Armenia and the Republic of Moldova follow Cuba, which in June of 2015, became the first country in the world to receive WHO validation for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.
(...) Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe commented, “It is only by ensuring truly universal access to HIV and syphilis prevention, treatment and care for all, while respecting individual rights, that the HIV and syphilis epidemics in children will be eliminated”." (Photo: WHO)