What if …
Q.72 What if there is an emergency situation, with families displaced and/or with little access to usual health services?
In an emergency situation in countries that recommend exclusive breastfeeding with ARVs for HIV-infected mothers, the recommendation should remain unchanged, even if ARVs are temporarily not available (see also Q.31 and Q.32).
In countries that recommend formula feeding for HIV-infected mothers, great care should be taken to ensure that Code-compliant infant formula is available only for those infants who need it (see also Q.28). National authorities and/or the authority managing the emergency should establish whether the recommendation for formula feeding is still appropriate given the circumstances.
Health staff dealing with mothers and infants require preparation to face the circumstances they are likely to encounter in emergency situations, including supporting HIV-infected women.
Related Q&A
- How do the new recommendations relate to the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent relevant Health Assembly Resolutions (the Code)? (Q.28)
- How national and district health authorities manage interventions during the period of scaling up revised recommendations on lifelong antiretroviral therapy? (Q.31)
- How can breastfeeding and ARVs be recommended in remote clinics when ARVs to prevent postnatal transmission may not be available? (Q.32)