Thailand first in Asia to eliminate mother-to-child HIV
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 8
Thailand on Wednesday received validation from the World Health Organization for having eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, becoming the first country in Asia and the Pacific region and also the first with a large HIV epidemic to ensure an AIDS-free generation. India is far from the elimination goal with new deadlines being fixed repeatedly.
WHO has already given the certificate of validation to Thailand during a ceremony in New York on the eve of the United Nations General Assembly high-level meeting on ending AIDS.
“This is a remarkable achievement for a country where thousands of people live with HIV. Thailand’s unwavering commitment to core public health principles has made elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis a reality, a critical step for rolling back the HIV epidemic. Thailand has demonstrated to the world that HIV can be defeated,” Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, said presenting the certificate to Thailand.
Thailand has turned around its epidemic and transformed the lives of thousands of women and children affected by HIV," said UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé.
Untreated women living with HIV have a 15-45 per cent chance of transmitting the virus to their children during pregnancy, labour, delivery or breastfeeding. However, that risk drops to just over 1 per cent if antiretroviral medicines are given to both the mother and the child throughout the stages when infection can occur.
In 2014, the WHO published a guide on global processes and criteria for the validation of the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis and the different indicators countries need to meet.
As treatment for prevention of mother-to-child-transmission is not 100 per cent effective, elimination of transmission is defined as a reduction of transmission to such a low level that it no longer constitutes a public health problem.
