Andrea’s Weblog

A new study was released that shows the AIDS virus can be inactivated in breastmilk simply by flash-heating it. Yes, the simple act of boiling breastmilk using a jar, campstove and pot of water has been shown to make breastmilk safe for baby consumption. In a world where 8,000 people die every day from AIDS, is anyone else surprised that it took 26 years for someone to do a study to find if this most basic method of sterilizing would work on HIV in breastmilk?

If this study is confirmed, this is great news for babies! The more babies who can have breastmilk, the better–especially in developing countries with questionable water supplies. Formula is also not as easy to digest, so the digestive tract can get irritated, leaving babies more vulnerable to infection. From what I’ve read, there is still more research to be done on how/if HIV is transmitted through breastmilk.

The next question, which isn’t addressed in the article I read, is how are women supposed to express the milk? Everyone is excited about how easy it will be to sterilize the milk, but what about the other half of the process? Sure, a mom probably has a jar, stove and pot, but a breastpump? Suppose an NGO comes through and donates a bunch of pumps–in many places there is already a stigma associated with having HIV/AIDS–are these moms really going to be seen pumping for their babies? Is someone going to educate them on how to use the pumps?

So, I read the article with mixed thoughts. It’s great that more moms will hopefully be able to provide their babies with breastmilk, but are pumps going to be made available to them? A good breast pump is crucial to maintaining a woman’s milk supply. Will women without refrigerators have sanitary methods for storing their expressed milk. Will they have bottles available to use?

Will this just form another gap between the haves and the have-nots in the fight against AIDS?