Syphilis prevention joins HIV prevention

At the Cotonou meeting, Boni Yayi asked African countries to consider conventional and traditional medicine in health cooperation.

The 2014 regional health meeting considered inherited care within a broader call to strengthen systems facing epidemics.

The Benin president connected traditional and conventional care with partnerships among countries of the Global South.

Cuba became the first country validated for eliminating mother-to-child HIV and syphilis transmission as public-health problems.

Testing and treatment during pregnancy formed part of the services WHO assessed.

The finding does not mean that every possible individual transmission had become impossible.

The 2015 regional observance used regulation of traditional health practitioners as its theme.

WHO’s event notice advocated identifying and supporting qualified traditional health practitioners.

The 2015 event called for systems to protect patients from potentially harmful practices.

The observance raised how countries might recognize practitioners while safeguarding the public.