Monday, March 12, 2007

FO NEWS: UN SLAMS PHILIPPINE ADS TOUTING BREAST MILK SUBSTITUTES

I somehow missed this rather startling news about a nationwide ad campaign by the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines promoting breast milk substitutes getting the ire of United Nations for being "misleading, deceptive, and malicious in intent."

Although the offending print ads listed the benefits of breastfeeding, it also said that "when a mother chooses not to, cannot continue, or stops breastfeeding, infant formulas prepared according to globally accepted standards and guidelines are deemed suitable and safe."

Per United Nations: "In 2003 the WHO estimated that 16,000 children under the age of 5 died in the Philippines as a result of improper feeding practices including infant formula. Today, only 16 per cent of children at four to five months of age are exclusively breastfed and 13 per cent of infants are not breastfed at all."

Details about this issue can be found here.

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