Formula over facts? Rethinking public health priorities in budget allocations
With formula sales surging and breastfeeding stagnating, it’s time to revisit that report and ask: are current budget decisions aligned with the best interests of mothers and children?
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WHO report warns against formula milk marketing strategies
KARACHI: A lately released international report by WHO says that
over a half of the parents and pregnant women surveyed in eight countries were
exposed to various formula milk marketing strategies and procedures implemented
reportedly in breach of international standards, compromising child nutrition.
The report, “How marketing of
formula milk influences our decisions on infant feeding”, has been drawn on
interviews with parents, pregnant women and health workers in cities across
Bangladesh, China, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom
and Vietnam. This cross-regional research was commissioned by WHO in seven
countries and Unicef in China only.
“The report finds that industry
marketing techniques include unregulated and invasive online targeting;
sponsored advice networks and helplines; promotions and free gifts; and
practices to influence training and recommendations among health workers. The
messages that parents and health workers receive are often misleading,
scientifically unsubstantiated, and violate the International Code of Marketing
of Breastmilk Substitutes (the Code) – a landmark public health agreement
passed by the World Health Assembly in 1981 to protect mothers from aggressive
marketing practices by the baby food industry,” said a WHO communication from
Geneva/New York.
IV photos
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO
Director-General, said, “Regulations on exploitative marketing must be urgently
adopted and enforced to protect children’s health.”
Unicef Executive Director Catherine
Russell said: “False and misleading messages about formula feeding are a
substantial barrier to breastfeeding, which we know is best for babies and
mothers.” She called for robust policies, legislation and investment in
breastfeeding to ensure that women are protected from unethical marketing practices.
According to the report, exposure to
formula milk marketing reaches 84 per cent of all women surveyed in the United
Kingdom; 92 per cent of women surveyed in Vietnam and 97 per cent of women
surveyed in China, increasing their likelihood of choosing formula feeding.
The WHO communication emphasised that breastfeeding within the first hour of birth, followed by exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continued breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond, offers a powerful line of defence against all forms of child malnutrition, including wasting and obesity.
“Breastfeeding also acts as babies’ first vaccine, protecting them against many common childhood illnesses. It also reduces women’s future risk of diabetes, obesity and some forms of cancer. Yet globally, only 44 per cent of babies less than 6 months old are exclusively breastfed. Global breastfeeding rates have increased very little in the past two decades, while sales of formula milk have more than doubled in roughly the same time.”
According to the research report, across all countries included in the survey, women expressed a strong desire to breastfeed exclusively, ranging from 49 per cent of women in Morocco to 98 per cent in Bangladesh.
The report details how a sustained
flow of misleading marketing messages is reinforcing myths about breastfeeding
and breast-milk, and undermining women’s confidence in their ability to
breastfeed successfully. “These myths include the necessity of formula in the
first days after birth, the inadequacy of breast-milk for infant nutrition,
that specific infant formula ingredients are proven to improve child
development or immunity, the perception that formula keeps infants fuller for
longer, and that the quality of breast-milk declines with time.”
In addition, the report notes that
large number of health workers in all countries had been approached by the baby
feeding industry to influence their recommendations to new mothers through
promotional gifts, free samples, funding for research, paid meetings,
conferences and even commissions from sales, directly impacting on parents’
feeding choices. “More than one third of women surveyed said a health worker
had recommended a specific brand of formula to them.”
A comprehensive analysis was
conducted in each country to assess the volume and dynamics of formula milk
marketing and to map various types of advertisements, messengers, contents and
forms of dissemination, said the WHO press release.
Originally published by News Desk, Social Track, Karachi – 25.2.2022
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