AIDS rates down in US
December 2, 2011
IN the lead-up to World AIDS
week (28 Sep - 04 Dec), the Pan
American Health Organization/
World Health Organization has
released a report which details the
progress made by the collective
countries of the Americas who
committed to eliminating motherto-
child transmission of HIV and
syphilis as public health problems
by 2015.
The commitment included
improving the quality of care for
pregnant women and babies,
including wider and timelier
treatment for HIV and syphilis.
According to the report an
estimated 5,000 children become
infected with HIV in the Americas
each year, most through mother-tochild
transmission, whilst between
164,000 and 344,000 babies are
born with congenital syphilis.
The report also found that
Canada, Cuba, Antigua and
Barbuda, the US and Anguilla have
all reported reduced rates of
mother-to-child transmission of HIV
to less than 2% and have reduced
pediatric HIV cases to no more than
0.3 per 1,000 live births.
Cases of congenital syphilis are
also down to no more than 0.5 per
1,000 births.
These levels are considered low
enough to no longer constitute
public health problems.
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