Dear colleagues, and friends,
As a Commissioner of the Lancet-WHO-UNICEF report *A Future for the World’s Children?*
https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/future-child,
I want to share that we discussed the role of companies that produce harmful products for childhood health.
It was thus that we incorporated a chapter aimed at the* Commercial Determinants of Childhood Health,* taking into account the existing evidence in the sense that companies do not have the capacity to self-regulate and that children do not have the strength to confront the power of marketing.
Obviously, the manufacturers of breast milk substitutes are part of this group of companies, in addition to the manufacturers of alcohol beverages, sugary drinks, or food with obesogenic properties. The spectrum also includes those companies that induce unhealthy behaviors in childhood within their marketing strategies.
In this same sense, and before the Lancet report was launched at the WHO, we held a meeting with the *Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)* on Monday, February 3, 2020 (with the participation of representatives of WHO and UNICEF) where we explained the reasons and arguments for which the CRC should make progress in the regulatory aspects of commercial marketing aimed at children.
Our specific recommendation to the CRC was the consideration of an *Optional Protocol on Regulating the Harmful Marketing to Children. *
*Rationale*
There may be a *need for a more explicit and focused legal instrument* which build upon the CRC because:
- New marketing strategies and practices are increasingly sophisticated and diverse, and governments ’human rights obligations need to be more specific and tailored to a fast changing environment
- Industry is making effective use of human rights language to justify their marketing, and which needs to be countered through the clear articulation of rights and obligations.
In addition, an incremental approach was proposed with steps to follow and goals to be achieved within defined time frames. The proposal is now in the hands of the CRC for its consideration and adoption of an attitude in this regard.
I also understand that it is a shared responsibility of the professional community and civil society concerned with the health and rights of children to support and follow up on these types of initiatives.
Companies know how to manage their strategies. Children, unfortunately, do not have the resources to confront them. How long will we have to wait to provide an answer in favor of the rights of the child?
Thanks for your interest and participation,
Raúl
CHIFA Profile: Raul Mercer, MD, MSc, is the Coordinator of the Program of Social Sciences and Health at the Latin American School of Social Sciences, (www.flacso.org.ar) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He also Coordinates the Seminar on Gender and Childhood (PRIGEPP/FLACSO) and is Coordinator of the Project "Te Escucho" (I hear you) to promote child and women's rights and gender equity in public hospitals. He is also a member of the Southern Cone Initiative on Child Rights and Health, and a researcher at the Center for Research in Population Health, CISAP, Durand Hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Email: raulmercerATgmail.com
