Caribbean region on track to eliminating mother to child HIV transmission

Thirteen countries in the Caribbean region are on track to being certified as having eliminated HIV transmission from mother to child, while another three are getting closer to achieving this goal.

Validation processes are underway throughout the region to confirm reported rates, making it likely that by 2015 a Caribbean country will be the first in the world to announce that it has ended HIV transmission from mothers to babies.

According to the UNAIDS Caribbean regional support team director, Ernest Massiah, “these successes would not have been possible without political commitment and will.”

The twin-island nation of St Kitts & Nevis is among the countries with supporting documentation for its mother to child HIV transmission data – and has recorded a rate of 0 percent. The island of Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Saba, St Eustatius, and St Maarten all have not had an HIV positive baby on record in the last 4 – 10 years, however, they must verify and finalize their documentation.

The Bahamas, Jamaica and Suriname currently have transmission rates between 2 – 5 percent, while Antigua & Barbuda, Belize, Haiti and Trinidad & Tobago lag behind with more than 5 percent of children born to mothers living with HIV becoming infected.

Read more: Caribbean News Now