Africa: Reducing HIV risk in breastfeeding

For many HIV-positive mothers in resource-poor settings, breastfeeding is often the only option, despite the risk of HIV transmission. The challenge now is for healthcare workers to accept this reality and make breastfeeding safer, a recent report has said. A study by LINKAGES, a programme providing technical information on infant feeding, found that breastfeeding remained one of the most effective child survival interventions available. While breastfeeding increases the risk of HIV-transmission to the child by up to 15 percent, replacing breast milk increases the risk of infectious diseases like diarrhoea and respiratory infections up to sixfold during the child's first 2 months.