Open
letter to the President of Brazil
Click here to download this letter as a pdf file
Click
here for examples of Nestlé's dangerous promotion of whole
milk in Brazill His Excellency,
Luiz
Inácio Lula da Silva,
President of the Republic of Brazil.
Your Excellency,
A Brazilian family must spend 45% of the minimum salary
every month to bottle feed a child
during the first months of life, considering the
cost of formula alone.
If
we consider that few families can spend this amount, and
that many of them do not live in
hygenic conditions, we see that children who are
not breastfed may receive a lethal mixture of
contaminated water and over-diluted milk.
The
decline in breastfeeding is directly related to the promotion
of artificial milks and feeding
bottles.
Because
of this, we wish to register our objejction to the involvement
of companies such as
Nestlé in the 'Zero Hunger' Programme.
If our
concerns are considered, it will not be the first time that
the support of Nestlé has been refused. Recently, the
South African 'Nelson Mandela Children's Fund', refused
a sum of nearly one million dollars (US$ 905,000) from this
company. And this was not the first time. In 2000 Mandela refused
financial support from Nestlé, recognising that a conflict
of interests exist. (A complete report of this event can be
found on the website http://www.babymilkaction.org/).
We
wrote to Your Excellency of 3rd March 2003, when we expressed
our concern at Nestlé's
participation in the 'Zero Hunger' Programme. The
response we received from the Special
Ministry for Food Security and the Fight Against Hunger, signed
by Mr. Sergio Paganini Martins,
MD, Secretary of Strategic Planning and Management of the Fund
for Fighting and Eradicating
Poverty, Ref: 1127/SPEGF/MESA of 17th June 2003, did not meet
our expectations.
The
World Health Organisation estimates that, across the world,
1.5 million infant deaths could
be prevented through breastfeeding every
year. According to Brazilian research, the risk of
dying before one year of age is 14 times
greater for artificially-fed children, compared to those
who are breastfed.
In
the past 20 years, Government Organisations, Non Governmental
Organisations, religious
institutions and businesses have fought
to recover the practice of breastfeeding in Brazil,
including through the control of advertising
and promotion of these products.
Unhappily,
accepting a large baby food multinational ' Nestlé ' as
a partner in the 'Zero
Hunger' Programme and opting for the supposed immediate
benefits in the distribution of food
disregards all that has happened in the past and undermines
breastfeeding promotion activitieswhich are achieving structural
changes and a much greater positive impact in the area of public
health.
Because
of this, those of us in the IBFAN
Brasil network strongly disagree with the participation
of Nestlé in the 'Zero Hunger' Programme
and wish to express our profound concern with the short and
long term damage that donations from baby food companies, which
are largely reported in the media, could cause to breastfeeding
promotion activities in Brazil.
Breastfeeding
rates in Brazil, though they have improved greatly since
the 1970s, still leave
much to be desired. Even so, achieving
the present rates was not easy, requiring great
investment throughout the past two
decades on the part of the Ministry of Health and many City
and State authorities.
At
present it perhaps appears beyond question that Your Excellency
should accept financial
support from this multinational,
considering that with this support the 'Zero Hunger' Programme
could satisfy the immediate needs of many families, but we wish
to assure you that the future
cost of this approach could be incalculable and a heavy burden
for Brazilian children.
The
presence of companies such as Nestlé in the 'Zero
Hunger' Programme benefits
only the company itself. Participation
is a marketing strategy, bringing
prestige to the company and
helping it to construct a good
image. This situation is very
serious when we consider how
these
multinationals are disrespecting
the International Code of Marketing
of Breastmilk Substitutes in
various countries.
The
conflict of interest present in the relationship between
Nestlé and
the Federal Government is very
clear. The sudden impetus from
this company for collaboration
could be explained by its
need to have approval from CADE
(Administrative Council for the
Defence of the Economy) for
the purchase of the Garoto Food
Company as well as to encourage
the silence of the
authorities in the face of the
exploitation of mineral water
springs in São Lourenco.
Multinational
companies in any country in the world cannot,
for obvious reasons, be considered
as civil society. It is not
coherent to accept the participation
of companies such as this
in a programme aimed at improving
the nutrion of the population
if
the Ministry of Health itself
recommends exclusive breastfeeding
for the first 6 months of
a babies life, followed by
continued breastfeeding until
2 years of age or beyond.
It is fundamental that the 'Zero
Hunger'
Programme incorporates and follows this recommendation, avoiding
contradictions and conflicts
of interest.
The
IBFAN Brazil network has existed in the country for 23 years,
bringing together groups
of
citizens and health professionals
in 19 states and has, throughout this period, collaborated
with
the Ministry of Health
and City and State health authorities in programmes and projects
to
protect, promote and support
breastfeeding.
We
are always at Your Execllency's disposition,
and that of the Federal Government, to
contribute to improve the quality
of life of our children. However, we again ask you to consider
our point of view and reconsider
the partnership established
with Nestlé.
We
continue to fight, together with friends
around the world, against
the presence
of this multinational
industry within our elected governments,
and we believe that
hope will be victorious,
not only over fear,
but also over the economic power
and arrogance of multinational
companies.
Yours
respectfully,
IBFAN
Brazil
Coordinator
Internal Consultative Committee
(see pdf for full list of signatories)
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