WHO validates Brazil for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has validated Brazil for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV, making it the most populous country in the Americas to achieve this historic milestone. 

• This accomplishment reflects Brazil’s long-standing commitment to universal and free access to health services through its Unified Health System (SUS), anchored in a strong primary health-care system and respect for human rights.

• Globally, an estimated 1.3 million women and girls living with HIV become pregnant each year. 

• In the absence of intervention, the rate of transmission of HIV from a mother living with HIV to her child during pregnancy, labour, delivery or breastfeeding ranges from 15 per cent to 45 per cent.

• Brazil’s success is part of the broader EMTCT Plus Initiative, which seeks to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B, and congenital Chagas, in collaboration with UNICEF and UNAIDS. 

• It is embedded within PAHO’s Elimination Initiative, a regional effort to eliminate more than 30 communicable diseases and related conditions in the Americas by 2030.

• Brazil met all the criteria for EMTCT validation, including reducing vertical transmission of HIV to below 2 per cent and achieving over 95 per cent coverage for prenatal care, routine HIV testing, and timely treatment for pregnant women living with HIV. 

• In addition to meeting the targets of the validation, Brazil demonstrated the delivery of quality services for mothers and their infants, robust data and laboratory systems, and a strong commitment to human rights, gender equality and community engagement.

• Brazil is one of 19 countries and territories worldwide that have been validated by WHO for EMTCT. 

• Twelve of these are in the Region of the Americas. 

• In 2015, Cuba became the first country in the world to be validated for EMTCT of HIV and the elimination of congenital syphilis. 

• Other countries in the Region include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and Saint Kitts and Nevis in 2017; Dominica in 2020; Belize in 2023; and Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2024.

• Outside the Americas, countries validated for EMTCT of HIV include Armenia, Belarus, Malaysia, Maldives, Oman, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.