Brazil eliminates mother-to-child transmission of HIV, marking a public health milestone

WHO validated Brazil for meeting the criteria to eliminate vertical transmission of HIV, an achievement built on access to health care, prenatal care and the strengthening of the public system. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) validated Brazil for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV, making it the most populous country in the Americas to achieve this milestone. The South American nation met all the technical criteria, including reducing vertical transmission to below 2% and achieving more than 95% coverage of prenatal care, HIV testing and timely treatment for pregnant women and newborns.

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was a major achievement given the complexity of a system such as Brazil’s. He added that Brazil has shown sustained political commitment over time, together with equitable access to health services throughout the country.

For his part, Brazil’s Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, said this milestone reflects years devoted to expanding access to testing, treatment and maternal health services. 

Along the same lines, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima highlighted that the South American country showed that prioritizing universal health care, addressing the social context of the epidemic and protecting human rights by ensuring access to medicines are a demonstration of what works. 

Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed his pride in Brazil’s Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), for ensuring that the most vulnerable people receive the same care as those with greater resources. 

The Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) is Brazil’s universal, comprehensive and free public health system, created on the basis of the 1988 Federal Constitution and regulated by Law 8.080/1990. The system covers the entire Brazilian population, including foreign residents and visitors, and ranges from primary care to specific procedures such as organ transplants, urgent and emergency care, and vaccination, among other treatments.

The SUS is framed within the right to health enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ensuring that no one is excluded from health care for economic, social or cultural reasons.

Brazil’s achievement is in line with PAHO’s Elimination Initiative to eliminate more than 30 communicable diseases and related conditions in the Americas and the Caribbean by 2030. Over the past decade, this regional effort has prevented more than 50,000 pediatric HIV infections, thanks to joint work among governments, international institutions and civil society.

Global HIV/AIDS data

According to data from the UNAIDS 2025 Global AIDS Update, around 40.8 million people were living with HIV worldwide in 2024, and during that year there were some 1.3 million new infections, a 40% reduction since 2010.

Since the start of the epidemic in 1981, an estimated 91.4 million people have been infected with HIV and some 44.1 million have died of AIDS-related causes, according to data from the organization.

The UNAIDS global report highlights that, despite the historic reduction in new infections and deaths, “enormous gaps in prevention” still persist, far from the global target of fewer than 370,000 by 2025, and it also warns of a funding crisis for HIV/AIDS programs. This situation could jeopardize progress and increase new infections if international support is not sustained.

AIDS is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, the final stage of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which occurs when the body’s immune system is severely damaged by the virus. Not everyone with HIV develops the syndrome.

HIV is spread through certain body fluids. The most common route is through sex without the use of condoms or medication to treat HIV. It can also be transmitted through blood, by sharing needles for drug use or through transfusions, as well as from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.

Although it is not the most common route of transmission of the disease, the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV represents progress in terms of human rights. The right to health, recognized by the international system, means that all people can access prevention, diagnosis and treatment services without discrimination. For this reason, WHO celebrates the case of Brazil, which it describes as a regional and global example.

Guillermo Whpei

President of Fundación para la Democracia