Panama City, July 10 (RHC)-- UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, has praised Cuba's achievements in the fight against HIV and syphilis, pointing out that Cuba is the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of these diseases.

Through a statement from its regional headquarters in Panama City, UNICEF highlighted that this milestone is only possible thanks to the efforts of Cuban health authorities to ensure prenatal care and childbirth assistance by qualified personnel, as well as access to testing HIV and anti-retroviral treatment.

On June 30th, Cuba became the first country in the world to receive certification from the World Health Organization, the WHO, for having eradicated child transmission of HIV and syphilis.

The WHO considers that a country has eliminated vertical transmission of these diseases when only two or fewer infected infants are born of 100 mothers carrying the virus, while the scale for syphilis is less than one case per 2,000 live births of mothers with the disease.