Beyond informed choice: infant feeding dilemmas for women in low-resource communities of high HIV prevalence

dc.contributor.authorKuhn, Louise
dc.date.accessioned2016-07-05T12:46:16Z
dc.date.available2016-07-05T12:46:16Z
dc.date.issued2002
dc.date.updated2016-06-27T12:19:56Z
dc.description.abstractShort regimens of anti-retroviral drugs can significantly reduce the transmission of HIV from mother to child which occurs around the time of delivery, but these drugs do not significantly reduce HIV transmission through breast-feeding. In order to prevent transmission, some have called for the provision of milk formula for HIV-positive women. However, linking milk formula, which is of questionable safety, with anti-retroviral drugs, which are of known benefit, may be dangerous. It may also delay implementation of programmes which provide wider access to anti-retroviral drugs, as well as making access to these drugs contingent (implicitly or explicitly) on willingness to use formula. Implementing international guidelines which support giving HIV-positive women an informed choice between infant feeding alternatives is difficult in practice. The focus on a dichotomised choice has the effect of neglecting to make each choice safer. New findings suggest that the magnitude of HIV transmission associated with breast-feeding can be substantially reduced with optimal breast-feeding practices, including those which maintain the exclusivity of breast-feeding and prevent the development of breast problems. These new findings have created greater awareness of the quality of breast-feeding and have drawn attention to serious deficiencies in the counseling services which assist women regarding lactation issues within maternal and child health services in general, and within programmes aimed at the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission in particular. Even if access to anti-retroviral drugs can be improved, training and motivation of counsellors will remain a cornerstone of programmes which are effective in preventing transmission of HIV to children.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationKuhn, L. (2002). Beyond informed choice: infant feeding dilemmas for women in low-resource communities of high HIV prevalence. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20207en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationKuhn, Louise "Beyond informed choice: infant feeding dilemmas for women in low-resource communities of high HIV prevalence." (2002) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20207en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationKuhn, L. (2002). Beyond informed choice: Infant feeding dilemmas for women in low‐resource communities of high HIV prevalence. Centre for Social Science Research, University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Kuhn, Louise AB - Short regimens of anti-retroviral drugs can significantly reduce the transmission of HIV from mother to child which occurs around the time of delivery, but these drugs do not significantly reduce HIV transmission through breast-feeding. In order to prevent transmission, some have called for the provision of milk formula for HIV-positive women. However, linking milk formula, which is of questionable safety, with anti-retroviral drugs, which are of known benefit, may be dangerous. It may also delay implementation of programmes which provide wider access to anti-retroviral drugs, as well as making access to these drugs contingent (implicitly or explicitly) on willingness to use formula. Implementing international guidelines which support giving HIV-positive women an informed choice between infant feeding alternatives is difficult in practice. The focus on a dichotomised choice has the effect of neglecting to make each choice safer. New findings suggest that the magnitude of HIV transmission associated with breast-feeding can be substantially reduced with optimal breast-feeding practices, including those which maintain the exclusivity of breast-feeding and prevent the development of breast problems. These new findings have created greater awareness of the quality of breast-feeding and have drawn attention to serious deficiencies in the counseling services which assist women regarding lactation issues within maternal and child health services in general, and within programmes aimed at the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission in particular. Even if access to anti-retroviral drugs can be improved, training and motivation of counsellors will remain a cornerstone of programmes which are effective in preventing transmission of HIV to children. DA - 2002 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2002 T1 - Beyond informed choice: infant feeding dilemmas for women in low-resource communities of high HIV prevalence TI - Beyond informed choice: infant feeding dilemmas for women in low-resource communities of high HIV prevalence UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20207 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/20207
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationKuhn L. Beyond informed choice: infant feeding dilemmas for women in low-resource communities of high HIV prevalence. 2002; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/20207.en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentCentre for Social Science Research(CSSR)en_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)*
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.en_ZA
dc.titleBeyond informed choice: infant feeding dilemmas for women in low-resource communities of high HIV prevalenceen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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