Dear HIFA and CHIFA colleagues,
Today is the first day of World Breastfeeding Week.
World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is a global campaign to raise awareness and galvanise action on themes related to breastfeeding.
https://waba.org.my/wbw/
Here are some related facts:
1. aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes has caused a dramatic increase in infant deaths (WHO 2021)
2. infants who are not exclusively breastfed are 14 times more likely to die than infants who are exclusively breastfed (UNICEF 2016)
3. mothers need reliable information from trusted sources, not misinformation from those motivated by profit (HIFA 2021)
4. universal breastfeeding could save 800,000 lives every year (WHO 2021)
I would be interested if HIFA and CHIFA members could let us know more about the links between misinformation from the infant formula industry and preventable deaths. Has anyone been able to estimate the numbers attributable?
Also, is anyone awareof research that has looked at current levels of knowledge among mothers (and fathers) about the benefits of breastfeeding and the risks of bottle feeding?
This will be really helpful as we would like to create one or more HIFA Instagram posts on this theme.
Best wishes, Neil
Dr Neil Pakenham-Walsh MB,BS
Coordinator, Healthcare Information For All
Corner House, Market St, Charlbury, Oxfordshire OX7 3PN, UK
E: neil@hifa.org T: +44 (0)1608 811899 orcidID: 0001-9557-1487
W: www.hifa.org Twitter: @HIFA_org Facebook: HIFAdotORG
HIFA works with the World Health Organization and others to improve the availability and use of reliable healthcare information and protect people from misinformation
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