October 15, 2025 : The Maldives has achieved a remarkable global health milestone by becoming the first country to attain “triple elimination” of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis. This achievement, certified by the World Health Organization (WHO), demonstrates how sustained public health efforts, strong healthcare systems, and focused maternal care policies can deliver life-changing results.
The triple elimination marks the Maldives’ success in ensuring that pregnant women receive timely testing, treatment, and preventive care, thereby breaking the transmission chain of these infectious diseases to newborns. For a small island nation, this milestone is a testament to decades of commitment to universal healthcare, efficient public health coordination, and community outreach.
India, with its vast population and diverse healthcare challenges, can draw valuable lessons from the Maldives’ achievement. Despite making progress in maternal and child health, India still faces gaps in universal screening, early diagnosis, and treatment accessibility for infections like HIV and hepatitis B, particularly in rural and underserved regions.
One of the Maldives’ key strategies has been integrating disease control programs into maternal and child health services. Every pregnant woman is routinely screened for HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis during antenatal visits. Positive cases are managed through standardized treatment and follow-up, ensuring babies are born free from infection. India could replicate this model by strengthening linkages between its National AIDS Control Programme, National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme, and reproductive health initiatives.
The Maldives also achieved near-universal immunization coverage, with hepatitis B vaccines administered at birth and strong follow-up systems in place. India’s Universal Immunization Programme already includes hepatitis B vaccination, but improving timely delivery, especially in remote areas, remains essential to achieving comparable outcomes.
Another success factor is the Maldives’ robust data management and monitoring system. Real-time health data helps track maternal infections, treatment outcomes, and infant health. For India, improving data accuracy and digital health integration at the grassroots level could help identify at-risk populations early and deliver targeted interventions.
Community awareness campaigns also played a crucial role in the Maldives’ success. By educating families about prenatal testing, safe delivery practices, and infant immunization, health authorities built trust and reduced stigma associated with HIV and sexually transmitted infections. India’s public health messaging can similarly be strengthened through local language campaigns and partnerships with community health workers, midwives, and NGOs.
Experts believe that India’s scale and diversity make the challenge complex but not impossible. With strengthened health infrastructure, better maternal care services, and continued investment in primary health centers, India could move closer to eliminating these diseases among mothers and newborns. The country’s progress toward universal health coverage and initiatives like Ayushman Bharat can support this goal by ensuring equitable access to testing and treatment.
The WHO has encouraged other nations to follow the Maldives’ model, emphasizing that integrated, patient-centered, and preventive health systems are the most effective in combating infectious diseases. The success story also highlights the power of political will, community engagement, and sustained healthcare funding.
In conclusion, the Maldives’ triple elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis sets a powerful example for India and other nations. By investing in early testing, robust maternal health systems, and awareness programs, India can make significant strides toward safeguarding the health of mothers and children—and potentially achieve its own milestone in disease elimination in the years ahead.
Summary
Maldives’ success in eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis offers India vital lessons in integrated maternal healthcare, vaccination, and early disease prevention strategies.