IBFAN PRESS RELEASE 26 May 2000

WHO Suppresses Critical Debate - Technical Consultants Statement

See the article reproduced from Baby Milk Action's Update 27 newsletter (May 2000) on the WHO/UNICEF Technical Consultation on Infant and Young Child Feeding in Geneva in March 2000.

The following statement on recommended duration of exclusive breastfeeding was submitted to WHO by the named Technical Consultants at the meeting.

 

Technical Consultation on Infant and Young Child Feeding
World Health Organization
Geneva, Switzerland
13 - 17 March 2000
Statement Regarding the Duration of Exclusive Breastfeeding

Read and Submitted by Audrey J. Naylor, MD, DrPH
on Behalf of the Technical Consultants Named Below
17 March 2000

At the time of the Innocenti meeting in 1990, the evidence regarding the importance of exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life was limited and the recommendation of promoting, protecting, and supporting exclusive breastfeeding for four to six months was acceptable. During the intervening ten years numerous further studies regarding the biologic importance of exclusive breastfeeding, the development of the infant (neurologically, immunologically, metabolically and in terms of oral motor development), as well as carefully done work clarifying the physiology of lactation and milk production have accumulated. Simultaneously, studies have been carried out which demonstrate the significant risks to infant health and to lactation, milk production and lactational infertility of the premature introduction of complementary foods and/or replacements for breastfeeding. There is now sufficient scientific, including epidemiologic, evidence for changing the recommended duration of exclusive breastfeeding to about six months.

The Technical Consultants (identified below) who have gathered together here in Geneva to assist WHO and UNICEF believe that it is essential for the strategic plan for the first decade of the new millennium which will result from our work, reflect the current scientific evidence and refer to the recommended duration of exclusive breastfeeding as about six months. Such guidance to those responsible for international, national and community level strategic planning and programmatic action will significantly improve the survival and the health and development of all the world's infants and children.

We request that this statement be included in the official published
report of the Proceedings of this Technical Consultation.

 

Signers:

Lubov Abolian, PhD
Director of the Federal Centre for Support and Promotion of Breastfeeding, Ministry of Health
Federal Research Institute of Health Education,
Moscow, Russia

Marcos Arana, MD
Executive Director of Defensoria del Derecho a la Salud,
Centro de Capacitacion en Ecologia y Salud
Chiapas, Mexico.

Ruth Arango, MD
Advisor in Mother and Child Health
Programa Calidad en Salud
University Research Corporation URC-USAID
Guatemala City, Guatemala

Kathryn Dewey, PhD
Professor, Department of Nutrition
University of California, Davis
Davis, California, USA

Judith Galtry, PhD pending
Department of Women's Studies
Victoria University
Wellington, New Zealand

Gulbin Gokcay, MD, MSc, MRCPCH
Professor of Pediatrics
University of Istanbul
Institute of Child Health
Istanbul, Turkey

Elsa Giugliani, MD, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics
Federal University of Rio Grande de Sul
Porto Alegre, Brazil

Chloe O'Gara, EdD
Vice-President
Ready to Learn Center
Academy for Educational Development
Washington, DC, USA

Marina Ferreira Rea, MD, PhD
Director
MCH Division
Instituto de Saude
Sao Paulo, Brazil

Judith Richter, Registered Pharmacist, MA, Development Studies Consultant
Tubingen, Germany

Ellen Sokol
Consultant on International Code
Levittown, Pennsylvania, USA

Veronica Valdes, MD
Pediatrician
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Universidad Catolica de Chile
Santiago, Chile

Fernando Vallone, MD
Breastfeeding Sub-Program
Mother and Child Program
Ministry of Health
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Dr. Rukhsana Haider
Urban Family Health Partnership and John Snow Inc.
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Xu Jingzhen, MD
Professor
Department of Pediatrics
Peking Union Medical College Hospital
Beijing, China

Sandra Lang,
Preston Lancs, United Kingdom

Katherine Krasovec, ScD
Senior Associate
Abt Associates, Inc
Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Alireza Marandi, MD
Professor of Pediatrics (Neonatologist)
Mofid Children's Hospital
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Kim Fleisher Michaealsen
Professor
Research Department of Human Nutrition
The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University
Frederiksberg, Denmark

Audrey Naylor, MD, DrPH
President and CEO
Wellstart International
San Diego, California, USA