From Kaieteur News

The Caribbean is on track to ending mother-to-child transmission of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). This is according to Director of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), Mr. Dereck Springer.

In fact, Springer is confident that “we are poised in this region to become the first region of the world to achieve and end mother to child transmission. We can boast that Cuba achieved this goal last year and we know that several of our countries are poised to do so”.
Cuba is currently the only country in the world to have achieved this feat.
Last year, Cuba made history when the Pan American Health Organisation/ World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) declared that it was the first country to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.
Cuba’s achievement was regarded as a “major victory” by WHO Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, who noted that “eliminating transmission of a virus is one of the greatest public health achievements possible”.
According to Director of PAHO, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, “Cuba’s success demonstrates that universal access and universal health coverage are feasible and indeed are the keys to success, even against challenges as daunting as HIV.”
Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton had also pronounced on the development noting that achieving such a feat was no small task, even for an island territory.
“We recognise them for what they have done and there are many things that might have gone in their favour or might be in their favour, but we take away no credit, and laud Cuba for being the first country in the world to have achieved that,” said the Minister as he noted that Guyana is poised for a similar achievement.
He, however, pointed out that unlike Cuba’s island setting, Guyana’s borders are porous.
”We are surrounded by countries that we really have no control over and persons traverse frequently,” said the Minister, as he admitted that eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV “would be a difficult thing to do; regardless of that we should try to gain that status like Cuba has done”.
But according to Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, “the bottom line of Cuba’s achievement is the health system, and their health system is really built on a solid primary health care foundation.”
“I think that’s probably the key to Cuba achieving their elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis,” Dr. Persaud declared, as he underscored the importance of promoting primary health care here in Guyana.
However, Springer disclosed recently that while the Caribbean Region can blaze a trail in terms of bringing an end to mother-to-child transmission of HIV, there is still a lot to be done in relation to addressing stigma and discrimination which could serve as a barrier to individuals’ access to treatment, care and support service.
Among those who are particularly vulnerable, Springer observed, are the key at-risk populations – that is, men who have sex with men, commercial sex workers and young people who constitute a vibrant faction of the workforce.
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Special Envoy for HIV in the Caribbean , Dr. Edward Greene, earlier this year noted that because of the persistence of discriminatory laws against men who have sex with men and commercial sex workers, these groups do not seek help and, by extension, access to treatment.
Dr. Greene moreover stressed the need for intervening measures to be put in place to target and reduce existing discrimination. The UN, according to Dr. Greene, has been appealing to countries to address punitive laws against these vulnerable groups.
Among the UNAIDS time-bound targets of its fast-track approach to end HIV are the reduction of the number of people newly infected with HIV from two million in 2014 to fewer than 500,000 in 2020, and the elimination of HIV-related discrimination.
The HIV situation in Guyana currently translates to about 7,000 individuals living with HIV, according to Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton. He has also revealed that there are about 500 new cases recorded annually. Some 200 of these infected individuals die each year of complication-related AIDS, the Minister disclosed.
But a great deal of progress has been made over the years, to tackle the scourge of HIV. Part of the efforts, according to the Minister, has included the introduction of strategic programmes aimed at helping to eliminate the transmission of HIV from mother to child.
IMAGE: PANCAP Director, Mr. Dereck Springer

For more on this story go to: http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2016/12/13/caribbean-could-be-first-region-to-end-mother-to-child-transmission-of-hiv-pancap-director/