Julianne
Welcome back, and I hope you're convalescing well from your surgery.
Bless you for your well thought out letter in support of
breastfeeding in the face of HIV. And of course for sending the
links to Hilary Clinton's speech, the NY Times article, and the
marvellous letter from Caroline Chantry for ABM. You're quite right,
looks like the NY Times reporter is putting his own
interpretation on what Hilary Clinton said. Thanks for being so alert!!
Pamela Morrison IBCLC
Rustington, England
-------------------------
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2011 12:23:03 -0500
From: Julieanne Hensby <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: "Hello again" + New York Times article
Hello Everyone
Given my long absence from this community, I feel like somewhat of an
intruder. Since going 'no mail' in July for major surgery, my
hesitation to join in again is mostly based in a fear of spending too
much time here eg imagining the epitaph on my headstone will read
something like: "Missing without a trace. Last seen browsing Lactnet
Archives in 2011..."
Anyway, some may be interested to read a copy (below) of an email I
just sent to the Executive Editor of the NY Times + Academy of
Breastfeeding Medicine + Hillary Clinton (via the US Department of
State which I'm guessing she probably won't read):
Cheers, Julieanne
EMAIL:
"Dear Mr Keller (Bill) - Executive Editor, New York Times
Warm greetings from Australia.
Recently I was given a link (via a newsletter from the Academy of
Breastfeeding Medicine) to an online article in the NY Times,
"Clinton Aims for AIDS-Free Generation":
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/health/policy/hillary-rodham-clinton-aims-for-aids-free-generation.html
The Academy's newsletter article was their response to the article
named above, in the form of a 'letter to the editor':
http://bfmed.wordpress.com/2011/12/01/abm-responds-to-the-new-york-times-aids-free-generation/
I had intended writing about this in a new post on my blog, but upon
searching for the original source of Hilary Clinton's speech
(http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/11/176810.htm), found no
specific reference supporting what the author of the NY Times article
had written ie
"Mrs. Clinton gave only one date, 2015, by which she hoped a goal
would be reached: that no more mothers will infect their babies at
birth or through breast-feeding. That is the source of about
one-seventh of all new infections."
One can only assume then, that the author of the NY Times article
allowed himself to be informed by 'popular belief' rather than fact
when including 'breastfeeding' in his statement above. Unfortunately,
this kind of misinformation occurs regularly in the context of media
reporting about human lactation.
As can be found in the latest World Health Organisation's "Guidelines
on HIV & Infant Feeding 2010" the recommendation for mothers in
resource-poor countries is to breastfeed exclusively for 6 months in
addition to both mother and baby receiving anti-retro-viral medication.
Given the potential of this mistake to further perpetuate one of the
many incorrect 'popular beliefs' about breastfeeding, and in the
interest of the truth, I respectfully ask that you please consider
publishing a clarification.
Kind Regards
Julieanne Hensby
Lactation Consultant IBCLC
Blog: http://www.humanlactation.com"
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