May 2024

EGPAF Responds to AAP’s Reversal of its Breastfeeding Guidelines for Women Living with HIV

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) celebrates the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reversal of its decades-old recommendations that women living with HIV in the United States avoid breastfeeding.  

With effective treatment, women living with HIV can achieve viral suppression and substantially reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their children through breastfeeding. 

“The AAP’s updated guidelines affirm what the science shows: engaging pregnant and lactating women and mothers in effective treatment for their HIV is highly effective in reducing the vertical transmission of the disease, and mothers who are virally suppressed should have the option to breastfeed their children if they choose to do so, given the myriad of benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child” said EGPAF President & CEO Charles “Chip” Lyons. “This recommendation brings the U.S. in line with global guidelines and the current science, which have proven to be effective in reducing vertical transmission and putting us on the path to ensure the promise of an AIDS-free generation is realized. 

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About the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation   

EGPAF is a proven leader in the fight for an AIDS-free generation and has reached over 35 million pregnant women with services to prevent transmission of HIV to their babies. Founded in 1988, EGPAF has supported over 15,000 sites and currently works in 19 countries to offer HIV counseling, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services alongside high-quality family health care. Each stage of life—from infancy to adulthood—brings new and different challenges, and EGPAF is driven to see a world where no other mother, child, or family is devastated by this disease. For more information, visit pedaids.org