WHO Executive Board Meeting in Geneva.
Text of today's
intervention by Dr. Arun Gupta on behalf of Consumers International/IBFAN
Agenda Item
8.2: Infant and Young Child Feeding.
Mr Chairman,
Director General, Members of the Board, friends, good afternoon.
I welcome the opportunity to speak on behalf of the International
Organisation of Consumer Unions, which I will refer to as
CI. On the issue of infant feeding, CI is a partner with
the International Baby Food Action Network, (IBFAN) a network
of over 150 citizens groups who have been working to protect
infant health in more than 90 countries, for the last two
decades.
We welcome the
report of the Secretariat on infant and young child nutrition
and the report of the collaboration within the UN system
especially regarding the ILO Maternity Protection Convention.
We would urge greater support for breastfeeding and maintaining
the right to nursing breaks for working mothers.
Since time is
limited, I shall concentrate on 4 issues:
Firstly, the
question of new partnerships.
We recognise
WHO's desire to develop new partnerships with the private
sector. This effort to encourage social responsibility by
corporations is a laudable motive. However when linked to
fundraising, the dangers that such partnerships will be
used for public relations purposes and dependency are great.
For companies, sponsorship of good causes is a well-known
marketing tool, which they often use to offset criticism.
Companies are
experts at PR, and have enormous resources and some have
annual promotion budgets 4 times the size of WHO's total
budget - which they can use to advertise even the smallest
reference to "partnership" with a prestigious
organisation such as WHO.
An example, of
how public relations is used is this 180 page book, which
is addressed to the Director General and has been sent to
governments, health workers and NGOs all over the world.
The book contains letters from more than 50 governments,
which a company claims testify its compliance with the International
Code. IBFAN had to spend time, energy and funds to analyse
this document and the company has now had to apologise to
several countries for misrepresenting their views. These
are not simple errors. This is not the effective monitoring
expected.
UNICEF has also
done an analysis and in their letter of 31 December 1999
to the company has stated that in at least 21 countries
the claims of national Code compliance could not be supported
and also questioned the appropriateness of the methodology
that has been used.
Secondly and
related, the issue of commercial sponsorship and conflict
of interest is of critical importance in infant feeding,
and especially in HIV where so many questions regarding
the impact of different patterns of breastfeeding remain
unanswered. We have the right to expect that the direction
and research priorities of the UN are not influenced by
commercial interests. The pharmaceutical and baby food industry,
both have clear vested interests in the outcome of research
into Mother to Child Transmission and are urging UN agencies
to enter into partnerships, allegedly in an effort to rescue
babies but in reality they are hoping to expand their markets.
One US baby milk and pharmaceutical company on its website,
in July 1999 stated that:
"...education
also increases sales of HIV products by developing the HIV
marketplace...the returns will ultimately materialise...most
of this HIV market is untapped..."
Should such a
company provide information for mothers and doctors on HIV
and infant feeding? Should it be encouraged to take women
to be tested for HIV in countries such as South Africa?
Thirdly, in Doc
EB 105/36, paragraph 12, entitled, Progress in implementing
the International Code states that 160 (84%) Member States
have reported to WHO on action taken. This projects much
too rosy a picture. We know that only 21 countries have
implemented the International Code and the relevant Resolutions
in their entirety by enacting legislation while another
24 have sound draft laws pending enactment. We hope that
interference by industry will not delay the enactment of
these drafts at country level.
IBFAN has contributed
significantly to national legislation by training some 400
government officials from 90 countries and developing the
IBFAN Code Handbook, which now exists in 4 languages. Another
important contribution is IBFAN's continuous health worker
training, monitoring, and raising awareness, campaigning
and advocacy. Thousands of health workers and millions of
people at grass roots level are now aware of the Code and
Resolutions and are taking action to protect infant health.
Lastly, we would
like to draw your attention to the following suggestions:
- IBFAN has
submitted comments about some of the serious weaknesses
contained in the first draft of the Guidelines for Interaction
with Commercial Enterprises and we strongly urge WHO to
take them into account. We do have copies available for
Members.
- We encourage
WHO to ensure that its entire staff consistently uphold
the importance of the Code and Resolutions at all times,
and especially when dealing with media and other enquirers.
- The European
Parliament has decided to hold regular Public Hearings,
in which the activities of European-based companies in
relation to developing countries will be examined. The
baby food issue is the first item on the agenda. WHO might
like to assist parliamentarians in this endeavour.
- WHO could
write to its WRs to confirm, or not, statements made in
the book I referred to earlier.
In a world where
health care systems and services are increasingly being
privatised, there is an urgent need for WHO to protect its
status as a truly independent advocate for human rights
and public health. WHO is the highest health policy setting
body in the world, and CI, as well as IBFAN, are more than
keen to work with you. However, we do urge WHO to ensure
that its policies, programmes and research priorities, reflect
its mission at all times, so that our efforts to protect
infants, children and their mothers are in harmony.
Thank you for
giving us the opportunity to speak to you today.
