No mother should have to choose between her baby starving or being infected with HIV

Before the war, Ukraine was planning to apply for a WHO certificate declaring the end of mother-to-child HIV transmission in the country. Photograph: Omar Marques/Getty Images

For centuries, breastfeeding has been seen as important to a baby’s development. But what if you’re faced with needing to breastfeed your child, while doing so could pass on a virus? Since Russia invaded in February, this has been the reality for many mothers living with HIV in Ukraine. The health systems in numerous occupied, and previously occupied, areas of the country have collapsed.

A lack of formula milk means mothers who no longer have access to their antiretroviral therapy (ARV) are having to breastfeed babies, heightening the risk of mother-to-child transmission.