While effective HIV treatment greatly reduces the risk of onward transmission during breastfeeding, it does not appear that the risk is zero, a leading paediatrician told the British HIV Association (BHIVA) conference in London last week. Although formula feeding is the safest option in high-income countries, some women will choose to breastfeed and healthcare professionals should support them to do so as safely as possible. Dr Hermione Lyall of St Mary's Hospital, London said that she and

- Canadian study finds 60% of pregnancies among HIV-positive women were unintended. - Among HIV-positive women, unintentional pregnancies were more common if they were younger, single or born in Canada. - Researchers highlight the need to integrate family planning within comprehensive HIV care. A team of Canadian researchers has analysed a comprehensive survey of HIV-positive women living in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. The survey focused on pregnancy-related issues. The researcher

Dr. Pietro Vernazza being interviewed  in the studio with Bruce Richman in Paris at !AS2017 About the Swiss Statement: Source aidsmap http://www.aidsmap.com/The-Swiss-Statement-and-its-repercussions/page/1746478/ “There is evidence of some groups of gay men knowing, from the late 1990s onwards, that people with an undetectable HIV viral load were much less infectious, and were using this knowledge in sexual decision-making. Public discussion of this became much more high profile after a p

BRITTANY CAMERON, 31 Peterborough, Ontario People living with HIV engagement worker, PARN Diagnosed with HIV: 2006, at 36 weeks pregnant I wish I had known that it would be OK. That I wasn’t the first HIV-positive woman to give birth, and I wouldn’t be the last. That HIV-positive women can and do have HIV-negative babies. That one day, advocating for women with HIV to have babies would become a passion of mine and I would inspire other positive women to have babies of their own. I

When delivering training on HIV transmission, I like to ask the participants to name the five bodily fluids that can transmit HIV. Blood is always stated first. Next, the participants will (incorrectly) state saliva. People usually get semen next. And often one person will identify breastmilk. The remaining two tend to be a bit of a puzzle. The answers are of course, anal mucous and vaginal fluid. I have yet to encounter any participant who is not already working/volunteering in the field wh

I’m not a mother and sometimes I think that when it comes to breastfeeding I should just keep my big trap shut. I have started and stopped this blog so many times. But I’ve decided to write it and here’s why. I don’t think women are given enough information about breastfeeding. And I don’t think their choices are respected enough. I believe that women should be empowered to make their own choices about breastfeeding and they should be supported – not policed – in these decision