Research in
Pakistan finds companies giving free gifts and misleading literature to mothers
and health workers
Guardian, The
Observer, Jamie Doward, Sunday 24 February 2013
Several of the world's leading food companies are breaching an industry code limiting the promotion of breast milk substitutes to mothers with babies under six months old, according to a new report by a leading aid charity.
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| A health worker advising women on breastfeeding and child health. Photograph: Nick Cunard |
Several of the world's leading food companies are breaching an industry code limiting the promotion of breast milk substitutes to mothers with babies under six months old, according to a new report by a leading aid charity.
A survey
for Save the Children found that care professionals in Pakistan were being
targeted by breast milk substitute companies. The charity said it had also
found evidence of "questionable marketing practices" in China.
Research
firm Gallup interviewed 2,400 mothers and 1,200 health workers across Pakistan
and found that a third of all available information relating to infant feeding
was sponsored by commercial companies, in violation of the Interagency Group on
Breastfeeding Monitoring code. The code was agreed in 1981 following widespread
concern about the promotion of baby milk formula in the developing world.
Gallup
reported: "Many items were giving misleading information and were
promoting bottle-feeding in some ways. The findings suggest that the code is
being violated in significant ways by companies in Pakistan, which try to
influence mothers through interpersonal communication, advertisements and
endorsement by health professionals."
Save The
Children has amassed a powerful coalition of celebrities to back its
breastfeeding campaign. Actress Isla Fisher, musician and model Myleene Klass
and newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky have all helped publicise the report. Last
week Victoria Beckham pledged support in a tweet to her 5.4 million Twitter
followers.
Gallup
found almost a fifth of health professionals in Pakistan had received a free
gift from a breast milk substitute manufacturer. A further 10% reported being
given free samples not just for the substitute but for follow-on formula milk,
baby food and bottles and teats. Most of the gifts were stationery such as pens
and prescription pads, sometimes branded, items which help health professionals
reduce their own costs. There are also anecdotal claims that some midwives were
given trips to Mecca, though it is not clear which firms are involved.
Two
subsidiaries of Swiss giant Nestlé and French producer Danone, both named in
the report, are the subject of an online petition calling on them to "stop
any conduct that undermines breastfeeding". The petition has had almost
8,000 signatures. Save The Children said it would be raising the issue at the
firms' annual meetings in the coming weeks.
Food
companies see Asia as a major market for breast milk substitute, an industry
already worth £16bn worldwide, and set to grow by 31% in the next three years.
In east Asia and the Pacific, the number of breastfeeding mothers has fallen
from 45% in 2006 to 29% in 2012. This is due in part, says Save the Children,
to inappropriate marketing practices by some breast milk substitute companies.
The charity
also blames the decline on traditional practices that eschew the use of breast
milk, and a severe shortage of midwives and health workers in the developing
world.
"Any
marketing practices that break the international code could, we believe,
undermine breastfeeding and therefore risk children's health," said Justin
Forsyth, the chief executive of Save the Children. "We must act to ensure
that these companies always stick to the code. In addition we are asking all
manufacturers to change the prominence of the labelling on their products
telling people that breastfeeding is the most effective way of protecting the
health of their child. We would like to see this cover a third of the
packaging."
The decline
in breastfeeding is a major concern for aid agencies. They say that the use of
breast milk substitutes brings heightened risks of contamination from
unsterilised water. In a new report, Superfood for Babies, the charity claims
that if babies receive colostrum, the mother's first milk, within an hour of
birth, it kickstarts infants' immune systems, making them three times more
likely to survive.
It also
claims that, if the mother continues breastfeeding for six months, a child
growing up in the developing world is up to 15 times less likely to die from
killer diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoea.
A spokesman
for Danone said: "Infant formula is the only safe, legal alternative to
breastfeeding and we believe an increase in the size of the warning label is
counterproductive, in that it would send mixed messages to parents and
potentially confuse them about which milks can be used safely for babies. Our
products are safe and popular because they meet a real need for mums who choose
to bottle feed. All of our infant formulas carry warning labels and meet strict
legislative rules, and our customer communications reinforce the benefits of
breastfeeding. Our priority is to standby mums and support them in their choices."
Nestlé
said: "While we agree there is still work to be done to improve infant
feeding practices and promote breastfeeding around the world, we believe Nestlé
already has in place the main elements recommended in the report for improving
breast milk substitute industry practices."
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