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Advertising Standards Authority finds against Nestlé

BMJ 1999; 318 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.318.7181.417a (Published 13 February 1999) Cite this as: BMJ 1999;318:417

Rapid Response:

Re: Nestle is not the only culprit

Dear Editor,

We are surprised and dismayed that as a chief paediatrician, Dr Syed
Fasahatullah Husseni of Karachi, Pakistan, makes three illogical and
unscientific statements in his letter of 6 March.

1) He claims that waging a war against breastmilk substitutes does
nothing to help pregnant and lactating mothers. False! Does Dr Syed
Fasahatullah not realise that breastfeeding encourages, amongst other
things, women’s self reliance through their power to nurture. Healthwise,
breastfeeding helps child spacing, provides protection against ovarian and
breast cancer and osteoporosis. Does he not realise that it is poor infant feeding
practices and their consequences that are one of the world’s major
problems and a serious obstacle to social and economic development? Apart
from all that, protecting breastfeeding is the best long term nutritional
assistance that can be provided for babies whose mothers are at the mercy
of commercial exploitation. Fighting indiscriminate marketing of
breastmilk substitutes and pushing for strong legislation against such
practices is a very positive act.

2) He states that (all?) mothers in most (?) developing countries
are severely malnourished and that they have poor quality breastmilk.
False! While much needs to be done to improve on the nutritional status
of women, it is not true that there is as high a degree of severe
malnutrition as he implies. Also, many studies have shown that even
malnourished mothers do provide high quality breastmilk. The answer is not
that these mothers switch to breastmilk substitutes but that they be
taught to improve their own food intake at a fraction of the cost of
Nestle infant formula.

3) He states that the developer should be allowed to promote a
product if it is necessary even for a very small segment of society.
Would Dr Syed Fasahatullah then also condone promotion of opium or
morphine?

If Dr Syed’s view were representative of the views of hospitals and
Pakistani paediatricians at large, it is no wonder that Pakistan lags
behind her neighbours in implementing the International Code of Marketing
of Breastmilk Substitutes. This is a great pity because Pakistan is one of
the countries in the world which needs the Code most.

Annelies Allain
International Code Documentation Centre
The Netherlands

Competing interests:

The International Code Documentation Center (ICDC) was set up by the International Baby Food
Action Network (IBFAN), to focus on the implementation of the International Code of Marketing of
Breastmilk Substitutes. IBFAN is a worldwide non-profit network of citizen groups who work to
promote, protect and support breastfeeding. IBFAN does not ask or accept any funding or
sponsorship from any infant food or related industry. I don’t receive a salary, as I am a volunteer but
my expenses are reimbursed

Competing interests: No competing interests

15 March 1999
Annelies Allain
Coordinator
The Hague/Penang