Belize, Jamaica, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines Eliminate Mother-to-Child HIV and Syphilis Transmission

Three Caribbean Community (CARICOM) nations – Belize, Jamaica, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines – have successfully eliminated mother-to-child transmission of both HIV and syphilis, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), marking a major public health achievement.

In its 2024 annual report, Advancing Health for Regional Security, PAHO highlighted significant progress under its Disease Elimination Initiative, while also addressing ongoing challenges such as regional dependence on imported vaccines and persistent health inequities.

The report notes that PAHO’s Regional Revolving Funds enabled access to 224 million vaccine doses and delivered five million treatments across the Americas last year, strengthening immunization programs and public health infrastructure.

Additionally, the newly launched Strategy on Epidemic Intelligence (2024–2029) – a global first – enhanced early warning systems for disease outbreaks. Meanwhile, digital transformation in healthcare, supported by more than US$900 million in loans from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), reached 20 countries.

“2024 was a year of powerful initiatives – not just to detect and treat disease, but to transform health systems,” said Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO Director. “This is about building resilience so that our health systems don’t just survive the next crisis – they are better prepared to respond.”

PAHO celebrated several milestones in 2024, including serving one billion people across 35 member states and commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Pan American Sanitary Code – the world’s first multilateral agreement on cross-border disease control.

To reduce reliance on imported medicines, PAHO supported mRNA vaccine development in Argentina and Brazil, including candidates targeting H5N1 avian flu. Currently, Latin America and the Caribbean import six times more pharmaceuticals and 80 times more vaccines than they export.

The 2024 report underscores PAHO’s commitment to advancing health security through innovation, collaboration, and system-wide transformation.