A group of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) will arrive in Havana on  Sunday, Mar. 22 to analyze the possible validation of Cuba as the first country in the world to eliminate syphilis and HIV/AIDS from mother to infant, or congenital transmission, according to UN health officials (computer translated).

Image/CIA
Image/CIA

A team of at least 15  will visit doctor´s offices in neighborhoods in Havana, central Villa Clara and eastern Santiago de Cuba provinces, where they will evaluate the results of the Cuban Prevention Program for Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

According to Cuban Health Minister, Dr. Roberto Morales Ojeda said, “We have prepared, and I think the country exhibits a consolidation of the results of its program of prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and are able to achieve this validation.”

According to a TeleSur TV report: In order to receive the certification from the WHO, a country must have a transmission rate in less than 0.5 percent of live births in the case of syphilis and less than 2 percent in the case of HIV. Medical care for pregnant women and access to HIV tests must exceed 95 percent and antiretroviral treatment must be available for 95 percent of seropositive pregnant women.

It was noted in June 2012 that Cuba is among the Latin American countries that have made major progress in expanding the availability of antirretroviral treatment (ART) for people with HIV, saving the lives of thousands and preventing new infections.