Dr. Jack sent me a copy of an email about the debate over babies and
HIV.  He notes that Sally Ann Lederman was a speaker in White Plains and
said that it is a wrong conclusion that a breastfed child who goes from
positive to negative to positive was infected by breastmilk.  In all the
medical journals, I have never seen a different explanation.  What is
her view?

In August 1997, I talked to Sally Anne Lederman by phone about the issue
of HIV & breastfeeding.  She told me that UNICEF was hiring her as a
consultant to review the data.  She said that UNICEF was "under the gun"
to review their policy about breastfeeding & HIV.  She said that she
wanted to "rip apart the studies."  UNICEF asked her to figure out:
"What is the answer?"  (to HIV & breastfeeding).  She told me that she
told UNICEF that the answer was "Find the cure." She said that there are
two ways to kill babies (HIV & unsafe bottle feeding). She also said
that she had worked for Wellstart on the issue of contaminants in human
milk in the Central African Republic. Etc. Etc.

Kathy Dettwyler is absolutely correct about Margaret Mead dying in
1978.  I should have checked that.  Apparently I made the mistake of
believing a *secondary source*, which very clearly states that the late
Dr.Mead did comment about this issue.

Dr. Jack is correct that UNICEF did distribute thousands of tons of
dried skim milk (It was free from the US government).  The picture on
page 235 of Jeflliffe and Jelliffe's "Human Milk In The Modern World"
shows it very clearly.  Gay Palmer talks about it too in "The Politics
of Breastfeeding."

I still feel that UNICEF's decision to distribute ABM in Third World
countries is one of the significant events in world breastfeeding.  As
Dr. Jack said, it was a *painful* decision for UNICEF.

Edith White