Breastfeeding Debate Reaches the Philippine Supreme Court
The debate over breast-feeding vs. bottle-feeding has reached an apex in the Philippines. The Philippine Supreme Court is the stage for a legal battle involving the Philippine Health Department, the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines, and several makers of infant formula.
Here’s a recap of the important points in the case:
For Breastfeeding:
* A ban against advertisements for formulas made for babies less than a year old is already in effect.
* The Philippine Health Department is proposing a new set of rules which include the following:
- banning ads for older babies/toddlers (up to 2 years old)
- a call for labels warning that formula can be harmful if contaminated or inappropriately prepared; that there is no substitute for breast milk and that formula should only be used upon medical advice.* There has been a dramatic decline in the number of mothers exclusively breastfeeding their babies during the first 6 months. The Health Department believes that aggressive advertising by formula manufacturers has led many women into “believing formula is better than their own milk”.
* The goal is to remind and re-educate the populace that there is no substitute for breast milk.
For Infant Formulas:
* The Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines sued the Health Department over the new proposal, saying that only the Philippine Congress can change the regulations.
* Tracey Noe, speaking for Abbott Laboratories, said that the company is not against breastfeeding, but believe that “infant formula is the only healthy, safe, physician-recommended alternative for moms who can’t breast feed”.
* “The milk companies have been painted to look like corporate ogres, motivated by nothing more than corporate profits,” said Felicitas Aquino-Arroyo, the attorney for the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association. “That is not the issue in this case. We are not battling breast-feeding.”
* The advertising ban will deprive women of “information that would allow them to freely choose whether to use formula”.
* Even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has sent a letter to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo “urging her to re-examine the Health Department’s plan or risk the country’s ‘reputation as a stable and viable destination for investment.’ “
I see some extremes in both sides of this debate. First, I don’t believe for a minute that the formula manufacturers are not driven by corporate profits. The bottom line is the bottom line. Otherwise, why would they spend millions in advertising their products, if they don’t expect to get them back? Aquino-Arroyo said it herself:
“U.S.-based formula makers Wyeth, Mead Johnson Nutritionals and Abbott Laboratories, along with British-based GlaxoSmithKline, stand to lose about $208 million because they will have to change labels, destroy milk products already in circulation and lose sales.”
Honestly, I don’t even see why the sales and profit losses of formula companies have to enter the discussion. This should be about the welfare of babies and mothers. I was particularly alarmed to read that bit about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce becoming involved. That statement reads like a veiled threat … “drop your support for breastfeeding or lose foreign investments”.
I have nothing against infant formula. It has its place. But the information presented or implied by this kind of advertising is very misleading, particularly for the less educated and the poor, who would benefit the most from breastfeeding.
The number of Filipino moms who nursed exclusively for the first 4-5 months was a surprisingly low 16 percent in 2003. From a health point of view, this is alarming and needs to be remedied.
From a consumer’s point of view, there is no distinction between ads for formulas for babies less than a year old and those for older babies. Formula is formula. So advertising for follow-on formulas is effectively one for formulas for newborns as well. However, I think the Health Department might be taking an extreme position if it seeks to label infant formula as harmful and inappropriate. They should channel more resources to their own aggressive educational campaign to promote breastfeeding. Train nurses and doctors to give breastfeeding support to new moms right in the delivery room. Get a famous celebrity to actively endorse breastfeeding. Make it glamorous and beautiful to nurse your babies. (Heck, Angelina Jolie breastfed her daughter Shiloh!) It will not change things overnight, but it could shift the perception of moms to consider giving this gift to their babies, even for just the first months. I believe there is hope, as the Philippines is the Guinness record holder for the most moms breastfeeding simultaneously for one full minute.
via Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Tags: Filipino moms, Philippines, breastfeeding, Filipino health
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POSTED IN: General: Philippine Culture, Health and Welfare
June 22nd, 2007 at 9:00 pm
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