HI Lactnetters,
  The NY Times is available on line http://www.nytimes.com/
  The article on Sunday front page leaves my stomach churning.
  If breastfeeding is a means of transmission of HIV,should HIV positive
women in third world countries be given free formula to feed their babies?
   NO!

   Dr. Stamps, Zimbabwe's health administrator, says " Are we to accept
that our children's survival should be compromised by the risk of AIDS
...Through the promotion of unlimited, unmodified, unchallenged
breastfeeding policies ?"
   NO!

   If a woman has the resources and the understanding to safely prepare
formula maybe she should not be denied the formula to avoid HIV
transmission to her infant.
    How would formula be supplied? The safest way would be pre diluted in
one time use disposable bottles. That's expensive. That's not
environmentally sound. Would some sort of milli pore filter be supplied
to purify water? That's expensive. Would the supply be uninterrupted or
would a washed out bridge somewhere force the mother to "stretch " the
supply?

    I was a public health volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps at a
hospital in Zaire, once again called Congo. The infant mortality rate
before age five was 50% !! This was before AIDS was so widespread. The
Leading cause of death was Measles. The vaccine was not heat stable.
     An infant fed formula in this village would almost certainly die.
Even clean water sources were readily contaminated with sewage during
rainy season flooding. Boiling water was out of the question. Most women
cook over wood fires and they have to go miles to find the wood and carry
it home on their backs.


    I agree with Elizabeth Sterken, the national director of Infact
Canada."Breastfeeding is a very very narrow window of transmission of
HIV. Recommending formula to third world mothers would be horribly
irresponsible because it might lead to deaths and disease among
noninfected  children."
    I feel that it would certainly lead to deaths and disease among
children who probably would not become infected from their mother's milk
anyway.
     To supply formula is worse than a band aid fix. It is like putting
on an infected band- aid!

     If the UN is serious about children's health issues, they need to
look at the prevention  and treatment of AIDS in general. They need to
look at clean water sources. They need to look at heat stable vaccines .
They need to look at malaria,TB, and a zillion other  things that would
be alot more effective than providing free formula.


     Mary Graden
     Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
     Microbiologist
     LLL Leader Idaho