World Breastfeeding Week 2020 - starts 1 August [5] Advocacy on formula advertising

3 August, 2020

Further to the postings from Evelyn and Massimo, I quite agree that there is a need for accurate information on infant formula tins and packets and indeed in all advertising of breast milk substitutes - though Massimo will have a job to persuade the WHO to insist that the label states that the contents are good for cow's babies, since formula is modified to be safe for infants. But that doesn't mean that it is good for infants, and the harm done by the use of breastmilk substitutes in low income countries - and the harmful effects on breastfeeding rates in all countries - is well known.

The question is to find a practical way forward for advocates of change as there is no point in protesting unless we do it in a way that will be effective.

The main organisation which is calling for reform globally in infant formula marketing is IBFAN, the International Baby Food Action Network www.ibfan.org<http://www.ibfan.org> and I would encourage those seeking change to join their network.

There is also much which can be done nationally in relation to good medical practice and this is just as important as changing the label on the tin. I commend the example of the British Medical Journal in ending infant formula advertising at some cost to themselves

https://www.bmj.com/content/364/bmj.l1279

and others could follow this practice.

Paediatric associations should also end all sponsorship by the baby food industry as has been done by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in UK.

Further steps possible, and achievable by agencies working together, are to bring the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk substitutes (WHO Code) into national law, and to legislate to remove all advertising from tins and packets of formula, as has been done with cigarette packaging.

It would be interesting to hear of current practice in Brazil in relation to formula advertising in medical journals, and concerning sponsorship of paediatric associations by the baby food industry.

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 www.chifa.org He is also a member of the HIFA Steering Group.

www.hifa.org/people/steering-group www.hifa.org/support/members/tony

Tony.Waterston AT newcastle.ac.uk