The future of breastfeeding in the face of HIV-1 infection: Science and policy

Abstract

This book presents a comprehensive and detailed overview of transmission of HIV-1 to the infant via the infected mother's breast milk. There is no question that breast milk is the ideal food for the infant-with numerous nutritional, immunologic, cognitive, and psychological benefits for the mother/infant dyad, it is a food evolutionarily designed and uniquely tailored to the needs of the developing infant. Promotion of breastfeeding is now recognized throughout the world-and especially in resource-limited settings-as one of the most critical interventions to prevent infant and young child mortality [1-4]. Derrick Jelliffe, one of the founding fathers of developing world pediatrics and child health/nutrition, aptly described the result of promotional practices of the formula industry in the 1960s and 1970s as "commerciogenic malnutrition" [5-7]. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York.