WHO and UNICEF Call for Renewed Commitment to Breastfeeding

WHO and UNICEF Call for Renewed Commitment to Breastfeeding

June 20, 2007

    MANILA, June 20 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Exclusive
breastfeeding rates in East Asia and the Pacific are just
61% at four months of babies' lives and even lower, at 35%,
at six months. And yet science has established that
exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a
child's life is the single best strategy for the infant's
survival, growth and development. 

    (Logo:
http://www.xprn.com.cn/xprn/sa/20061102095006-51.jpg )

    This is an alarming threat to child survival, according
to WHO and UNICEF, which have urged governments in East Asia
and the Pacific to invest more in protecting, promoting and
supporting  breastfeeding. The UN organizations say more
needs to be done to inform parents of the merits of
breastfeeding and the dangers of breast milk substitutes,
to crack down on violations of the International Code of
Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, and to better fund
public health systems for delivering breastfeeding support
services to mothers and families.

    The joint WHO/UNICEF call comes at the opening of a
three-day consultation of 70 regional and global public
health experts in Manila on how to better protect, promote
and support breastfeeding. The meeting will focus on how to
discourage a bottle-feeding culture by tackling the
influence of breast milk substitutes and effectively
promoting the evidence for why breast is still best.

    In the Philippines, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding
at four to five months fell from 20% in 1998 to 16% in 2003.
It is estimated that 16,000 deaths of children under five in
the Philippines are caused by inappropriate feeding
practices, including the use of infant formula. In
response, the Department of Health has proposed new
Implementing Rules and Regulations of the National Milk
Code to ensure full enforcement of the International Code
of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and to prevent any
violations by infant formula makers. 

    "Poor nutrition is the greatest contributing
factor to under-five mortality rates," says Dr Shigeru
Omi, the Regional Director of the WHO Regional Office for
the Western Pacific. "Breastfeeding provides a natural
safeguard for a child in the first months of life and plays
a critical role in growth and development." The Joint
WHO/UNICEF Regional Child Survival Strategy, which has been
endorsed by all Member States in the Western Pacific Region,
recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months
as one of the key components of an essential child-survival
package.

    Breast milk contains hundreds of health-enhancing
antibodies and enzymes that stimulate the immune system and
improve children's response to vaccinations. It also helps
to prevent diarrhoea, pneumonia, and sudden infant death
syndrome (SIDS), and contributes to child-spacing.

    In addition to the short-term benefits to a child's and
mother's health, evidence increasingly indicates
breastfeeding's role in preventing chronic disease in
adulthood. A recent WHO review of global studies shows that
breastfed children have a lower mean blood pressure, lower
total cholesterol, as adults, and higher performance in
intelligence tests. Also, the prevalence of
overweight/obesity and type 2 diabetes is lower among
adults who were breastfed as children. Breastfeeding
reduces the incidence of asthma, allergies, childhood
cancers, diabetes, Crohn's disease, colitis, obesity,
cardiovascular disease and ear infections, while promoting
cognitive development and school performance.

    In many countries in the region, the combination of
weak public health systems, slick and expensive marketing
of milk formula and poor enforcement of marketing
regulations have contributed to the decline of
breastfeeding. Often, poorly funded public health systems
are failing to fully equip health workers with the skills
and knowledge to assist new mothers in how to breastfeed.
The problem is compounded when poorly paid health workers
are offered incentives and gifts by formula companies to
promote their products.

    In addition to the public health benefits of
breastfeeding, the economic savings for both families and
health systems are potentially enormous. This is especially
critical for poorer families, who are increasingly spending
a large part of their income on infant formula, convinced
that it is a way to improve their child's intelligence and
thus chances for a better life. WHO Philippines estimates
that Filipinos are spending US$465 million (21.5 billion
pesos) a year to formula-feed their infants.

    In sharp contrast to the regional trend, Cambodia has
experienced a surge in women who are exclusively
breastfeeding during their babies' first six months. The
rates have increased from 11% in 2000 to 60% in 2005 -
largely due to parents learning that giving water to their
babies is not necessary. This appears to have contributed
to a dramatic decrease in child mortality rates: falling
from 95 infant deaths and 124 under-five deaths for every
1,000 live births in 2000, to 65 and 83, respectively in
2005. Cambodia's success is in part the result of an
aggressive campaign to educate women on the importance of
breastfeeding that involved public awareness education
through the media and creating
"breastfeeding-friendly" sites in villages.

    "Within the region, child survival is affected by
poor water quality, hygiene and sanitation. Combine
unsanitary water with the replacement of breastfeeding by
infant formula and the threat becomes even deadlier,"
says Anupama Rao Singh, UNICEF's Regional Director for East
Asia and Pacific. "We need to ensure that we remain
committed to protecting, promoting and supporting
breastfeeding by helping mothers and their families
understand the benefits and also the risks of artificial
feeding. This means governments must remain committed to
enforcing the International Code of Marketing of
Breast-milk Substitutes and also invest much more in the
public health system."

    EVENTS OPEN FOR MEDIA COVERAGE

    An opening press conference is scheduled for 12.00 noon
on Wednesday 20 June at the World Health Organization
Western Pacific Regional Office, on UN Avenue/corner Taft,
in Manila. Broadcast-quality footage from Indonesia and the
Philippines is available.

    Media are also invited to the screening of a short
film: "Formula for Disaster: Milk Code Violations in
the Philippines", followed by a panel discussion with
experts, from 17.30 on Thursday 21 June, at the Manila
Pavilion Hotel, United Nations Avenue.

    International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk
Substitutes:

    In 1981, in recognition that women and their families
needed to be protected from the  inappropriate marketing of
breast-milk substitutes, the 34th World Health Assembly
adopted the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk
Substitutes. Its aim is to provide safe and adequate
nutrition for infants by protecting and promoting
breastfeeding and ensuring the proper use of breast-milk
substitutes, when these are necessary.

    Regional Data:

    Countries and territories included in the East Asia and
Pacific regional estimates: Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, 
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Fiji, Indonesia,
Kiribati, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia,
Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of)
Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea,
Philippines, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Timor-Leste,
Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Viet Nam.






    For more information or to set up an interview with an
expert, please contact:

     Dale Rutstein, 
     UNICEF Philippines, 
     Tel: [phone]
     Mob: [phone]

     Shantha Bloemen, 
     UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office
     Mob: [phone]

     Peter Cordingley, Spokesman, 
     WHO, Western Pacific Region 
     Tel: [phone] 
     Mob: [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Region webpage:
http://www.unicef.org/eapro/media_6185.html
      WHO, Western Pacific Region webpage:
http://www.wpro.who.int/health_topics/nutrition