Women with HIV/AIDS urged to prioritise exclusive breastfeeding

Women with HIV/AIDS have been encouraged to practise exclusive breastfeeding to boost the immunity of their babies.Assistant Secretary, Association of Women Living with HIV/AIDS, Helen Aphan, appealed at an event to commemorate the World Breastfeeding Week, themed ‘Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All’, yesterday in Abuja.

She said women of marginalised populations such as females living with the scourge often face breastfeeding challenges due to concerns of mother-to-child transmission, explaining the occurrence is avoidable and preventable with exclusive breastfeeding, as the virus is not transmitted through breast milk.

According to her, exclusive breastfeeding is essential and beneficial to the child health-wise, and despite challenges, innovative strategy in breastfeeding ensures that negative babies of positive mothers live healthy lives with good nutritional outcomes.

She said: “To the structurally silent women, who are often inadequately enlightened, we gather to reaffirm our commitment to promoting breastfeeding as the cornerstone of maternal and child health.

“Breastfeeding is exclusive only if you do it exclusively for six months without interference, and as we observe the 2024 World Breastfeeding Day, we will discuss progress, challenges and strategy as we ensure that every breastfeeding mother and child receive the support to thrive.”

Addressing safety concerns relating to mother-to-child transmission, a nurse with Karu General Hospital, Aluku Beatrice, stated that breast milk is not infected with HIV, and as such, babies cannot be infected through exclusive breastfeeding, except if there is a wound on the mother’s breast while sucking.

Speaking on the international intervention for breastfeeding among silent women, the Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Dr Temitope Ilori, noted that community-based initiatives play crucial roles in reaching grassroots women with information on breastfeeding benefits, especially for women living with HIV/AIDS.

The traditional chief of the Kuruduma community in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Alhaji Aminu Bako, assured that monarchs would continue to support grassroots initiatives seeking to better the populace.