Three more Caribbean countries recently certified as free of mother-to-baby syphilis: join St. Kitts and Nevis.

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Jamaica, Belize and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are the latest countries to be certified by the World Health Organization for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis.

The milestone was celebrated on May 7 at a ceremony at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in St. Andrew, organized by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV /AIDS (UNAIDS), with the participation of the Ministers of Health from the three countries.

This achievement follows the implementation of interventions to strengthen primary prevention and treatment services for HIV and Syphilis within the countries’ Maternal and Child Health Services (MCH), which are ongoing.

To date, 19 countries worldwide have received the certification, with Jamaica being the largest English-speaking Caribbean state to achieve the milestone.

Worldwide, 19 countries and territories are now certified to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and/or syphilis, 11 of which are in the Americas.

In 2015, Cuba made history by becoming the first country in the world to achieve the dual eradication of HIV and syphilis.

This was followed by Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Montserrat and St. Kitts and Nevis in 2017, and Dominica in 2020.

The Minister of Health and Welfare, Dr. Christopher Tufton, in his remarks at the function, said the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis in the three Caribbean countries demonstrates the progress being made in improving maternal care on the island and in the wider region.

“This is a victory that underlines the protection of everyone’s health. It is also exemplary of the extraordinary progress being made in maternal health care. Furthermore, it is critical that we consolidate the gains we have made from this achievement, especially through continued community engagement and partnership for the public health interests of all,” he said.

The WHO awards this certification to countries that have reduced the mother-to-child HIV transmission rate below 5%; prenatal care and antiretroviral treatment provided to more than 90% of pregnant women; reported fewer than 50 new cases of congenital syphilis per 100,000 newborns, and achieved an HIV case rate of less than 500 per 100,000 live births.

Dr. Tufton further noted that “there is a need to increase linkage to and retention of care, testing, counseling, and adherence to HIV treatment and viral suppression. Early and regular implementation of safe maternity care, including antenatal care, remains critical, as does delivery care, including emergency obstetric and newborn care, and postnatal care and family planning after delivery. This is an area that our people are paying much more attention to and one that we here in Jamaica are giving great priority to.”

Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, encouraged regional leaders to ensure that rural communities benefit from the work to implement sustainable measures.

“Let us continue our efforts with renewed determination, knowing that the work being done at local levels, in rural and remote areas, indigenous communities and other vulnerable populations will have a profound impact on the health and well-being of future generations. ,” he said.

PAHO also pledged continued support to continue work to ensure gains made in eliminating mother-to-child transmission are maintained, and to expand certification to other countries in the region.

Representatives from the governments of Belize and St. Vincent and the Grenadines attended the ceremony to officially receive their certification.

Sources: Jamaica GIS, PAHO.

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