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A
new report launched today by the International Baby Food
Action
Network (IBFAN) documents,
from Case Studies commissioned in seven countries, how
the industry has operated over decades to undermine breastfeeding
and to oppose regulation of its marketing activities and
how this influence has been countered by campaigners . The
World Health Organisation (WHO) Executive Board is currently
meeting in Geneva and should be giving a high priority
to infant and young child feeding under the terms of Resolutions
adopted
by the World Health Assembly.
The
launch of this report is timely. The lobby of the food industry
against the WHO Global Strategy to combat obesity has been exposed
in the media over the past few days (click
here). (For the latest on the Global Strategy click
here). Meanwhile health campaigners in Brazil have written
to President Lula protesting at Nestlé's involvement
in the government's 'Zero Hunger' programme, which will see
the company distributing processed foods to the poorest families.
Nestlé is also distributing powdered milk, a strategy
which has devastated breastfeeding rates in the past, contributing
to unnecessary infant and young child mortality and morbidity
(click
here).
Mike Brady, Campaigns and Networking Coordinator
at Baby Milk Action said:
"The
attempts to scupper the Global Strategy against obesity
are all too familiar for those working
to protect infant health from the aggressive marketing
of baby foods. We have learned that baby food companies
do all they
can to limit and undermine controls on their marketing
and we have developed successful strategies to hold
them to account.
I hope that others will learn from our experiences."
To counter
the impact of industry lobbying, IBFAN members are attending
the WHO Executive Board meeting and have made interventions
in the debates on obesity (click
here) and are preparing for the discussion on infant and
young child feeding (click here).
There are concerns that important issues are being sidelined
and the influence of the baby food industry is suspected. Today
IBFAN is launching its new report to the press and officials
to raise awareness of industry duplicity.
The
report, Checks
and Balances in the Global Economy: Using International
Tools to Stop Corporate Malpractice - Does
it Work? contains valuable lessons for all campaigns
and examines:
-
how breastfeeding rates declined over the course of the past
century and the impact this has had on infant and young
child health,
-
the successful campaign mounted by public interest groups to
bring in international measures through the
World Health Assembly - the International
Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes which was adopted in 1981.
- experiences in implementing the Code and subsequent, relevant
Resolutions in national measures. Case Studies
were commissioned in: Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, England, India, Kenya and
Mexico.
The Executive Summary comments: “ In
all countries the industry has lobbied for narrow implementation
of the Code and Resolutions, preferably
as a voluntary code, rather than in binding legislation,
and has attempted to influence
government policy setting with tactics
such as sponsoring
the research on which policy is based and the health worker
bodies represented on government committees. Where
industry has failed, it is in large part due to the work done by NGOs
[Non Governmental Organisations] in monitoring and exposing
company marketing
activities and raising awareness
of the need
for strong measures, taking the Code and Resolutions as minimum requirements.
In
India and Brazil, legislation has
been progressively strengthened
to give the broad protection seen
today. Within the EU, the calls of the health lobby and
the European Parliament brought
about some changes to the policies
of the unelected Commission,
but not full implementation of the
Code and Resolutions. In the member states of Belgium and
England (as part of the UK),
industry arguments for deregulation
won out over health
concerns. In Mexico, Bolivia and Kenya, governments have
followed the industry line.”
UNICEF
research has shown breastfeeding rates are are declining
in Kenya, but increasing in Brazil (though this is now under
threat with Nestlé's involvement
in the 'Zero Hunger' Programme where it is distributing powdered
whole milk). The events at
the WHO Executive Board this
week will influence policies which
will
ultimately mean life or death
to the most vulnerable people on the planet: the
new born and young
children.
The
section giving recommendations to other campaigns comments:
"According
to investment bank UBS Warburg, 46% of Nestlé’s
income comes from ‘less healthy foods’ and
is at risk if regulations are brought in.
With such massive sums at stake on one hand and the health
and well-being of millions on the other, treading the
path ahead will require the same courage from campaigners
as
that shown on the infant feeding issue."
For more information contact:
Mike Brady, Campaigns Coordinator,
Baby
Milk Action
on 07986 736179
or Patti Rundall, Policy
Director on 07760 287001. Email:
mikebrady@babymilkaction.org
The
full report can be downloaded as a pdf document by clicking
here or contact
Baby Milk Action for a review copy. |
