OpenForum – a blog by the Health and Human Rights community

Claudio Schuftan (CS) and Ted Greiner (TG)

[Editor's note: this post is the latest and last installment of an ongoing discussion on the merits of exclusive breast feeding versus formula feeding for HIV-positive mothers. Dialogue on this issue began with an article by Dr. Binagwaho in Health and Human Rights, followed by a Perspectives piece by Dr. Schuftan. Dr. Binagwaho continued the exchange with a post on OpenForum, to which Dr. Schuftan and Ted Greiner, PhD, have responded below. We encourage readers of OpenForum to weigh in on this issue through comments on this post.]

We are of the opinion that, in her response, Dr. Binagwaho misinterprets the human rights of these newborn infants and somehow tries to turn the tables on the readers of this blog using fallacious arguments. She now tries to directly link my original argument (CS) to the arguments fought around the introduction of ARV treatment in Africa in its early stages. Our disagreement with her now centers around how she uses the AFASS criteria argument (acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable and safe) which she, in our view, lightly assumes are realistically achievable in Rwanda. She actually puts the emphasis on the cost-free-distribution-of-infant-formula which she rightly says would in theory be compatible with HR principles. Read more