HIV from mother to baby down to 2%

Deputy Director of the HIV/AIDS Coordinating Unit of the Ministry of Health, Dr Ayanna Sebro, pointed out that fact last Friday at the weekly press conference of the Health Ministry in Port-of- Spain.

According to Sebro, the reduction of vertical transmission from mother to child to two out of every 100 babies born to HIV-positive mothers was a national goal. Additionally, she said that with the help of the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC), the country has moved from 13 testing sites to 64.

Sebro said, “For the years 2008 to 2015, the ministry reported a decline of approximately of 50 percent in the number of new cases reported dropping from 1,453 to 710.

We continuously have had data strengthening activity and scale-up of access to testing in this period. We have moved from 13 testing sites to 64 testing sites from which we documented approximately 73,740 tests in 2015 as compared to 27, 567 tests in 2008.” Regarding the national goal for reducing the spread of HIV/ AIDS from mother to child, she said the “country has maintained a less than two percent transmission rate for the past five years within the public sector.” Sebro noted, too, that while the system continues to have challenges, Trinidad and Tobago is one of the countries in the region that funds its own anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) and has two viral load machines whereas some countries have none.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said he intends to make better use of the funding available through the United States’ President Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to advance the country’s capacity to combat the virus. In addition, Deyalsingh said through the use of funds available through PEPFAR, the country has a better chance of reaching the 90-90-90 goal set by UN/AIDS.

He said, “Another target to be achieved is that of 2020, where by 2020, it is hoped that 90 percent of any country’s known population of HIV/AIDS persons – so if a country has 100 people known to have the virus – 90 per cent of those people should know their status.

“Of those 90 percent who know their status, 90 percent of those people by 2020 should be on anti-retroviral drugs. So 90 percent should know their status, 90 percent should be on ARV, and of those 90 percent who are on ARV, 90 percent of those should have their viral load at a level where they can be considered HIV free.”