EMTCT Plus Initiative

A regional public health initiative coordinated by the Pan American Health Organization to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and, in some countries, Chagas disease. Member states of the Americas first committed in 2010 to eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, with elimination targets set for 2015; the commitment was renewed and broadened in 2016 under PAHO's Plan of Action for the Prevention and Control of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections for 2016 to 2021, which expanded the effort into what became known as EMTCT Plus by adding hepatitis B and Chagas disease to the diseases targeted for mother-to-child elimination. Cuba became the first country in the world validated by the World Health Organization for the dual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis in 2015, followed by Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat and Saint Kitts and Nevis in 2017 and Dominica in 2020, and in 2025 the Maldives became the first country in the world validated for triple elimination, including hepatitis B.