Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission and Infant Feeding
Optimal infant feeding is a key component of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) as well as a critical intervention to ensure overall child survival. Women need to consider the risks and benefits of various infant feeding options in the context of their households, families, and HIV status, if known. Options need to be affordable, feasible, acceptable, safe and sustainable. Acknowledging the urgency of reducing HIV transmission, current approaches must not lose sight of the overall goal of any PMTCT program: maximizing HIV-free child survival.
USAID's Response
USAID supports efforts to identify, encourage, and support safer infant feeding strategies in communities affected by HIV. USAID's lead technical agency in infant feeding, LINKAGES, works with its implementation partners to ensure that infant feeding is not forgotten in the PMTCT intervention package. Since 2000, LINKAGES and its partners have implemented a comprehensive PMTCT program in Zambia that includes training of health workers and community service providers in PMTCT and infant feeding counseling, promotion of safe delivery practices, HIV counseling and testing (VCT), and antiretroviral (ARV) prophylaxis (Nevirapine) as part of routine antenatal care services.
Related Links
Infant and Young Child Feeding
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