So much for not breastfeeding…
Turns out that it is better if kids get breastmilk, even if their mothers are HIV positive, as they are more likely to die from diarrhea than they are of contracting HIV. Here is a link to the story in the Washington Post and excerpt from the Kaiser summary report.
Providing infant formula to HIV-positive mothers might “cost at least as many lives as it has saved” because the nutrition and antibodies supplied by breastmilk are “so crucial to young children that they outweigh the small risk of transmitting HIV,” the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, CDC researchers have found that a decade-long, global initiative to provide infant formula to HIV-positive mothers has “backfired” in Botswana by causing infants to be more susceptible to other, more immediate deadly diseases. The findings join a “growing body of research” on the potential detriment of providing HIV-positive mothers with infant formula, the Post reports (Timberg, Washington Post, 7/23).
Filed under: Politics and Policy, Science and Technology
Great post, it is hard to overcome the over selling of formulas by the big companies seeking profits. I have heard that some of the big companies actually provide some free forumlas to new mothers…the concept is dry up the breast milk and sell more formula. It is really a bad practice with the only winners being the big companies looking for more money.