Peer-reviewed article
Breastfeeding And Infant Care in the Context of HIV/AIDS
Linda Richter, Dev R. Griesel ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This peer-reviewed paper discusses the risk of HIV transmission from mothers to infants, particularly in resource-poor countries where vertical transmission rates are highest in Africa (25-35%) compared to Europe (15-20%). The paper examines how HIV infection in women of child-bearing age poses a major risk to children and how feeding method choices are framed in HIV prevention policy. The work highlights how women are positioned as both the source of infection and the solution to preventing transmission to children.
Key points
- More than 90% of HIV-1 infection in children occurs through vertical transmission from mother to child
- Vertical transmission rates in Africa are 25-35%, higher than the 15-20% rates reported in Europe
- HIV is spreading most rapidly among young women of child-bearing age in resource-poor countries
- Current HIV infant feeding policy creates dilemmas around feeding method choices for women with HIV
- Women are constructed in policy discourse as both agents of transmission and potential modifiers of transmission
Limitations
This document is a conceptual/policy analysis piece that does not present empirical data on intervention outcomes or effectiveness of specific infant feeding strategies for preventing HIV transmission. It does not evaluate the actual impact of different feeding methods on child health outcomes.
Abstract
In many parts of the world, but especially in resource-poor countries, the HIV-epidemic is spreading most rapidly amongst young women of child-bearing age (Abdool Karim, Abdool Karim, Singh, Short & Ngxongo, 1992). More than 90% of HIV-1 infection in children occurs by vertical transmission, thus infection in women poses the major risk of infection for children The estimated rate of vertical transmission varies, with the lowest rates being reported in Europe (15-20%) and the highest rates in Africa (25-35%) (Newell & Gibb, 1995; Bobst, Coovadia, Coutsoudis & Moodley, 1996). In itself, the relationship between maternal Infection and child vulnerability is fused into the gendered discourse about HIV/AIDS prevention, in which women are constructed and targeted as agents of both cause and potential modification of transmission (Grosz, 1994). The current dilemmas about feeding guidelines in the context of vertical transmission risk relate also to this fusion and are profoundly enacted around the matter of choice of feeding methods alloted to women in current HIV infant feeding policy.