--- title: Mother to Child HIV Transmission: Cuba Eliminates HIV in Newborns description: Cuba is the first country to eliminate the transfer of HIV and Syphilis from mother to child, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday canonical: https://time.com/3943045/cuba-hiv-mother-daughter/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-01T14:52:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:41:59.673Z article:section: Health og:title: Mother to Child HIV Transmission: Cuba Eliminates HIV in Newborns og:description: Cuba is the first country to eliminate the transfer of HIV and Syphilis from mother to child, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday og:url: https://time.com/3943045/cuba-hiv-mother-daughter/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt722263d23143a8cd/698859453c1639e0ff458aa7/cuba-hiv.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: A new born baby rests beside his mother at the Ana Betancourt de Mora Hospital in Camaguey, Cuba, June 19, 2015. The World Health Organization on Tuesday declared Cuba the first country in the world to eliminate the transmission of HIV and syphilis from og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mother to Child HIV Transmission: Cuba Eliminates HIV in Newborns twitter:description: Cuba is the first country to eliminate the transfer of HIV and Syphilis from mother to child, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt722263d23143a8cd/698859453c1639e0ff458aa7/cuba-hiv.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Cuba Eliminates HIV Transmission from Mother to Child ## Video: Ebola: The Deadly Virus Outbreak Explained [Watch (HLS stream): Ebola: The Deadly Virus Outbreak Explained](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oB7TO3G5.m3u8) (1:36)  _Published 2014-07-29. A look at the numbers behind the largest ebola outbreak on record, which has killed 670 people thus far._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jul 1, 2015 2:52 PM UTC  A new born baby rests beside his mother at the Ana Betancourt de Mora Hospital in Camaguey, Cuba, on June 19, 2015. A new born baby rests beside his mother at the Ana Betancourt de Mora Hospital in Camaguey, Cuba, on June 19, 2015.Alexandre Meneghini—Reuters  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jul 1, 2015 2:52 PM UTC Cuba is the first country to eliminate the transfer of HIV and Syphilis from mother to child, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Tuesday. Only two babies were born with HIV in the country 2013, a low enough number to meet the WHO standard. “This is a celebration for Cuba and a celebration for children and families everywhere,” said Michel Sidibé, executive director of the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, in a statement. The achievement is at least in part the result of a five-year program by WHO and the Pan American Health Organization to eliminate prenatal transmission of HIV in the region. The program has included testing for pregnant women and treatment for women who test positive. Effective treatment of HIV in pregnant women can reduce the risk of passing the disease to a child to just 1%, down from as high as 45% otherwise. Around 1.4 million women with HIV become pregnant every year. And while the number of mother to child transmissions has declined dramatically in recent years, from about 400,000 in 2009 to 240,000 2013, WHO officials hope to see the number drop below 40,000. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3943045/cuba-hiv-mother-daughter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3943045/cuba-hiv-mother-daughter/"},"headline":"Cuba Eliminates HIV Transmission from Mother to Child","datePublished":"2015-07-01T14:52:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:41:59.673Z","description":"Only two babies were born with HIV in the country 2013","url":"https://time.com/3943045/cuba-hiv-mother-daughter/","keywords":["HIV/AIDS"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt722263d23143a8cd/698859453c1639e0ff458aa7/cuba-hiv.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt722263d23143a8cd/698859453c1639e0ff458aa7/cuba-hiv.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A new born baby rests beside his mother at the Ana Betancourt de Mora Hospital in Camaguey, Cuba, June 19, 2015. 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