Barbados meets global HIV targets

A fter more than three decades of work to tackle mother-to-child transmission of HIV, Barbados has achieved the elimination of transmission of the viral disease as a public health problem, Senior Medical Officer of Health and HIV/STI Programme Manager Dr Dale Babb said on Friday. Between 2022 and 2024, 6 352 live births were recorded in Barbados, with no new HIV infections resulting from mother-to-child transmission. The achievement was formally recognised at a ceremony at the Sandals Royal Ballroom in Maxwell, Christ Church, hosted by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health and Wellness. Babb, who is also deputy chair of the National Validation Committee, told the gathering that the certification was the result of significant effort, sustained commitment and a deep national resolve shared by everyone involved.

She said: “Barbados has now met all global mother-to-child transmission validation targets, including a transmission rate of less than two per cent, perinatal HIV incidence below 0. 5 per 1 000 live births, and more than 95 per cent coverage of antenatal care, HIV testing and treatment for pregnant women living with HIV. “Proudly, we were one of the first Caribbean countries to introduce AZT for pregnant women living with HIV,” she added. The work began in 1995, when Barbados started its prevention of mother-to-child transmission programme after international research showed that zidovudine, or AZT, could significantly reduce transmission from mother to child. That intervention brought transmission rates down from 27 per cent to 5. 5 per cent, she said, with further reductions after a second drug was introduced as prophylaxis alongside AZT. HIV testing among pregnant women also increased from 40 per cent in 1993 to…