Tuesday, December 20, 2011

St. Maarten could be first to reach zero mother-to-child transmission

page3a168~ PAHO to conduct validation in 2012 ~

By Judy H. Fitzpatrick

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten could be the first country in the Caribbean region to reach zero mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS, a development activists see as a significant stride in the fight against the epidemic here and in the region.

A team of Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) officials will be in St. Maarten next year to conduct a certification and validation of the country's mother-to-child transmission as well as St. Maarten's treatment programme, St. Maarten's HIV/AIDS Programme Manager Suzette Moses-Burton said on World AIDS Day, Thursday.

The certification and validation will be conducted during the first quarter of 2012.

Moses-Burton said it had been seen through various consultations "that probably, more than likely, and it needs to be validated, St. Maarten is one of the first countries in the Caribbean region to really begin to reach the target set with the 'Getting to zero' goals."

"We have not had cases of transmission of HIV from mother to child in a number of years and so the mission is to be able to validate that and certify it, so that we can be proud to say that we are one of the first countries truly getting to zero," she explained.

In terms of universal coverage, Moses-Burton said that while St. Maarten was not at 100 per cent, the goal set by the international community was at least 80 per cent and, "We believe that we [St. Maarten, ed.] are well over 80 per cent coverage for persons infected with HIV who need to be on treatment and so PAHO will be coming down to conduct an assessment, and that for us is very significant."

She said, "Being a little island does not mean that we do little things. Clearly big things can be accomplished by little countries and territories, and as I like to say, the little acorn grows into a mighty oak and I think this is one of the things we are seeing with our programme here in St. Maarten."

Moses-Burton spearheaded the RED campaign that has been running over the last couple of years in St. Maarten and now is being used as a model in some countries in the region, in terms of public-private sector partnership to combat the spread of the virus.

She also has been recognised regionally for her efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS here in St. Maarten.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/23083-st-maarten-could-be-first-to-reach-zero-mother-to-child-transmission-.html

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