Here is a message I got from Jay Ross of LINKAGES.

<The 13th International AIDS Conference kicks off in Durban tomorrow.
<Yesterday (July 7) there was a satellite symposium entitled "Breast
<Feeding and HIV-1 Transmission: Future Research Directions,"  sponsored
<by UNAIDS, UNICEF, CDC, and the Africa Centre for Population Studies and
<Reproductive Health. In addition there are a number of sessions
<throughout the conference devoted to MTCT and to infant feeding in
<particular, including a debate between Anna Coutsoudis and Mary Glenn
<Fowler on the resolution that "HIV-Positive Women Should be Encouraged
<to Exclusively Breastfeed."

<Web coverage of the conference can be accessed at http://www.aids2000.com/

I checked out the website and plan to look at it frequently this week.  One
infuriating thing is that the sponsors of the conference are
listed---Abbot-Ross and Bristol-Myers are two of the big conference sponsors.
 Just a few clicks, starting on their logos on the sponsor page, and you can
get to information on their infant formulas.  The Mead Johnson information is
especially galling, with its obligatory faint praise for breastfeeding (with
no mention of its health effects), then jumping into mega-inducements to use
their formula.

Bristol-Myers also has its current stock price ticking along in a banner on
its home page.  Could there be any better indication that the AIDS epidemic
represents a huge "cash cow" for drug/formula companies?

Chris Mulford
Swarthmore  PA (north east USA)

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