Photo by Lari Avilis on Unsplash (illustrative)
On 30 October 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) certified Barbados for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV as a public health problem. The certification followed an independent assessment confirming that the island had met the global targets, the result of years of work by the government with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and other partners.
Key facts
No new HIV infections through mother-to-child transmission were reported among babies born in Barbados from 2022 to 2024.
Over those three years, 98% of pregnant women received antenatal care, 98% were tested for HIV, and 98% of pregnant women living with HIV received antiretroviral treatment.
HIV testing and treatment are free for all pregnant women in Barbados, regardless of nationality, and testing is voluntary and confidential.
Barbados follows the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos (2026), Brazil (2025), and Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2024). Cuba was the first country WHO validated, in 2015, for both HIV and syphilis.
Why it matters
As PAHO Director Jarbas Barbosa put it, the achievement means children in Barbados are born free of HIV. With Barbados, 15 of the 26 countries and territories that WHO recognizes for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis or hepatitis B, or for being on track to do so, are in the Americas, which WHO calls the global leader in these achievements.
Worth noting
The certification covers HIV only, not syphilis. To keep it, WHO and PAHO say Barbados needs continued investment, updated guidelines, stronger health information systems, expanded HIV and syphilis testing, and better follow-up for women and children. UNAIDS also urges reliable access to medicines and diagnostic tests and action to tackle stigma and discrimination.