Giving Birth, Contesting Stigma: Cuban Women Living With HIV

According to the latest UNAIDS estimates, 420,000 children under 15 were infected with HIV in 2007, 330,000 died of the disease, and 2.5 million were living with HIV.5 Multiple reasons have been cited to explain Cuba's relative success in this area: the existence of a solid and accessible maternal and child health program prior to the HIV epidemic; routine testing of HIV during the first trimester of pregnancy; access to voluntary abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy; the availability of prophylactic measures, such as the provision of zidovudine (AZT), starting at the 14th week of pregnancy unless the pregnant woman is already receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) for her own health; delivery via cesarean section to avoid a higher risk of transmission through vaginal birth; and the distribution of evaporated milk as a substitute for breast-feeding-all of which are fully publicly subsidized and provided free of charge to Cuban citizens.