A recent paper in the British Medical Paediatric Open challenges some of the reasons given by national paediatric societies for continuing to accept sponsorship from the manufacturers of commercial milk formula.
https://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/bmjpo/7/1/e001876.full.pdf <https://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/bmjpo/7/1/e001876.full.pdf>
The authors state in the opening paragraph -
The threat to breast feeding from the marketing practices of the commercial milk formula (CMF) industry has been widely recognised and condemned since the launch of the WHO International Code, over 40 years ago.1 While formula feeding is needed by some infants for medical and social reasons, it is widely agreed that CMF should not be directly marketed to consumers and this is already partially or totally forbidden in most countries. Despite this, the annual marketing expenditure of the CMF industry has increased and is now US$2.7– US$3.5billion per annum,2 with a signifi cant proportion of this used to sponsor healthcare professional associations (HCPAs) through education, research and individual support of practitioners as a form of marketing.
Please disseminate this paper widely and do what you can to bring it to the attention of your national paediatric society. Unfortunately the majority of societies continue to take commercial milk formula sponsorship, and this is damaging breastfeeding rates around the world.
Tony Waterston
CHIFA profile: Tony Waterston is a retired consultant paediatrician who worked mainly in the community in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. He spent 6 years working in Zambia and Zimbabwe and directed the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Diploma in Palestinian Child Health teaching programme in the occupied Palestinian territories. He was an Editor of the Journal of Tropical Pediatrics and is on the Executive Committee of the International Society for Social Pediatrics. His academic interests are child poverty, advocacy for child health and children's rights. He is currently the lead moderator of CHIFA (HIFA's sister forum on child health and rights). www.chifa.org He is also a member of the HIFA Steering Group. www.hifa.org/people/steering-group<http://www.hifa.org/people/steering-group>www.hifa.org/support/members/<... Tony.Waterston AT newcastle.ac.uk
