PAHO Announces Three More Countries Have Eliminated Congenital HIV, Syphilis

Healio (5/9, Feller) reports, “Belize, Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines became the latest nations to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) announced.” This “has now been achieved by 19 countries globally, including 11 in the Americas, according to PAHO.” The World Health Organization “awards a certification of elimination to nations that have a mother-to-child HIV transmission rate under 5%, provide antenatal care and ART treatment for more than 90% of pregnant women, report fewer than 50 new cases of congenital syphilis per 100,000 newborns and achieve an HIV case rate of fewer than 500 per 100,000 live births.”