What happened
On September 29, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recognized five countries and territories in a ceremony in Washington for eliminating a disease or a route of transmission between September 2025 and September 2026. In every case, the assessment was made by the World Health Organization (WHO).
- Brazil: mother-to-child transmission of HIV (validation, December 2025). According to PAHO, it is the most populous country in the world to achieve it.
- Chile: leprosy (verification, March 2026), the first in the Americas, and dog-transmitted rabies (validation, September 2026), the first in South America.
- El Salvador: trachoma (validation, July 2026), the first in Central America.
- The Bahamas: mother-to-child transmission of HIV (certification, April 2026).
- Turks and Caicos Islands: mother-to-child transmission of HIV and hepatitis B (certification, June 2026). It is the first territory in the region to do so for hepatitis B.
What "eliminating" a disease means
It is not the same as eradicating it. WHO explained it in its own statements with two examples:
- Chile and leprosy. An independent panel reviewed data, surveillance and care protocols. The last locally acquired infection was detected in 1993. Between 2012 and 2023 there were 47 cases, but none was contracted in Chile. WHO makes clear that elimination is not defined only by the absence of disease, but by a health system able to detect and treat a case when one appears.
- El Salvador and trachoma. Among other conditions, fewer than 5% of children aged 1 to 9 can have the active form of the infection in each previously affected district, and there must be a system to identify and treat new cases of trachomatous trichiasis, a complication of trachoma. The assessments ran from 2023 to 2026.
A regional effort
According to PAHO, about 60% of the countries and territories in the world recognized for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV are in the Americas. The region has set a goal of eliminating more than 30 diseases and related conditions by 2030. As of September, five member states had launched plans covering several diseases at once, seven had plans in preparation and 17 were applying accelerated strategies.
PAHO Director Jarbas Barbosa said at the ceremony: "Today we celebrate an achievement that reflects the best of our Region".
What we don't know yet
- Eliminating is not eradicating. Surveillance has to continue. WHO recommends that El Salvador keep up eye health services so trachoma does not return, and that Chile maintain active surveillance.
- Gains can be lost. PAHO itself mentions measles outbreaks and status reversals in the region as an example.
- Serious problems remain. Trachoma is still a public health problem in rural and remote areas of Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Peru, according to WHO. Significant burdens of tuberculosis, malaria, HIV, syphilis and cervical cancer persist.
- The sources are official statements, not peer-reviewed studies. They describe what WHO panels concluded but do not detail their methodology.
Why it is good news
Behind each recognition are decades of sustained work, like Chile's more than thirty years without a locally acquired case of leprosy. Although this is not the end of the road, it shows that eliminating these diseases is possible when surveillance and health care are sustained over time.
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Sources
- Five countries and territories recognized for disease elimination achievements in the Americas. OPS/OMS, .
- Chile becomes the first country in the Americas to be verified by WHO for the elimination of leprosy. Organización Mundial de la Salud, .
- El Salvador validated by WHO as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. Organización Mundial de la Salud, .
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