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Milk policy is formula for misery in the Third World
Re: "Buxton Water's parent firm helps African children"
(Tom Levitt's column: Thursday 28 February 2008)
We are horrified that our local MP can be bought so easily: a free trip to Africa, soothing words from Nestl's PR department and he becomes their biggest fan.
Having previously been an aide to the International Development Secretary, Mr Levitt will be well aware that Nestl was found to be responsible for more violations of the marketing requirements for breastmilk substitutes than any other company in 2007 – yet he claims that "they have cleaned up their act."
As one of the world's most powerful companies, controlling about 40% of the world baby (formula) milk market, Nestl should be leading the world in the adoption of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Code of Marketing.
Instead, it attempts to undermine government implementation of the marketing requirements for infant formula at every turn– which is why Nestl is still the target of an international boycott, some 30 years down the line.
The WHO Code is in place for a very good reason; to protect both breastfeeding mothers and parents who choose to use formula. The NCT is Britain's largest parenting charity, working to enable all parents to have an enriching experience of pregnancy, birth and early parenthood. We campaign to improve the services for new parents, and provide information to give them a chance to make informed choices. We believe that all parents need to receive accurate information about infant feeding – free from commercial pressure or marketing bias.
In areas with unsafe water, a bottle-fed child is up to 25 times more likely to die as a result of diarrhoea. And yet Nestl continue to aggressively promote formula feeding to mothers in these areas in ways which are banned under the WHO Code, putting an estimated 1.5 million babies' lives at risk for the sake of the profits which paid for Mr Levitt's recent trip.
And it's not just in the Third World where formula-manufacturers ignore the WHO Code: in 2005 an advert flouting the Code was removed from Buxton Pool at the request of the local Primary Care Trust and the NCT.
Shame on you, Mr Levitt: for accepting Nestl's hospitality twice in the last three years; for assuming that investment in Africa makes up for immoral international marketing practices; and for trotting out Nestl's company lines as fact to your constituents.
Rachel Clark
Chair of High Peak Branch of the
National Childbirth Trust
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