The Regional Validation Committee (RVC) has agreed to conduct the Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV and Congenital Syphilis (EMTCT) validation exercise for the United Kingdom Overseas Territories and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) of which the Cayman Islands is a part, in June. This follows the Cayman Islands submission of a document for the verification of the elimination of mother to child transmission (MTCT) of HIV and congenital syphilis.

Since 2012, a team of local doctors, healthcare workers and policy makers have been working on a report that was submitted to the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) for certification.

Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Samuel Williams-Rodriguez said that following the submission of the report, the document was reviewed, necessary revisions were addressed and the eligibility for the validation of the country was approved for validation by the Regional Validation Committee according to WHO guidelines.

“Being given a successful validation will mean that Cayman Islands will join Cuba as one of the Caribbean countries to have eliminated mother to child transmission of HIV and congenital syphilis. We are confident that we will be granted this certification as we have not had a case of MCTC since 2004 due to the quality of our antiretroviral programme. A series of educational sessions for awareness is underway to ensure that all understand what this process means for us as a country and as individuals,” he added.

Facts on MTCT of HIV
• All pregnant women should be screened for HIV as early as possible during each pregnancy.
• Women with HIV who take antiretroviral medication during pregnancy as recommended can reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to their babies to less than 1 per cent. Globally, only 35 per cent of infants born to mothers living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries received an HIV test within the first two months of life.
• Only 28 per cent of children younger than 15 living with HIV in low- and middle- income countries received antiretroviral treatment for the virus, as compared with 54 per cent for adults.
• In the Cayman Islands all pregnant women are routinely tested for HIV and syphilis
• We had a pregnant HIV positive woman in 2013, who delivered the infant in 2014.The child is HIV negative.
• The last reported case of mother to child transmission (MTCT) in the Cayman Islands was in 2004.

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