Advertising Standards Authority finds against Nestlé

I would like to respond to the March 6 letter of Dr. Syed
Fasahatullah Husseni of Karachi, Pakistan.

Dr. Fasahat, as a chief paediatrician in Karachi, will be no stranger
to the unethical marketing practices prevalent in Pakistan. A report
published in April 1998 revealed that not a single company marketing baby
foods or feeding products in Pakistan was abiding by the International
Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. Nestlé was far and away the
largest source of violations.

Implementation of the International Code as enforceable national
legislation is one of the most important steps all governments, especially
that of Pakistan, can take to “help out pregnant and lactating mothers” by
protecting them from the propaganda these companies churn out in the name
of “information”.

Before casting stones at international organisations and activists,
perhaps Dr. Fasahat would like to comment on the role paediatricians and the Pakistan Paediatric Association have played in
delaying the proposed law being drafted by the Ministry of Health in this
regard and weakening it in favour of the baby food industry.

I can not speak for “most of the developing countries” as Dr. Fasahat
feels confident in doing, but I can say that while the women of Pakistan
face many problems, severe malnutrition is not one of them. Besides, even
moderately malnourished women can produce sufficient quantity of quality
milk to satisfy her child.

What, on the other hand, does Dr. Fasahat have to say about the fact
that in Pakistan only 24% of women can read and write, about 67 million
people do not have access to safe drinking water, nearly every tenth baby
dies before his/her first birthday and diarrhea and acute respiratory
infections cause more than half of infant deaths? Under these
circumstances, how appropriate is it for the baby food industry to promote
its expensive and inferior products?

Also, marketing restrictions on the baby milk industry will not cause
an increased use of raw cow or buffalo milk, as suggested by Dr. Fasahat.
Rather, the use of raw cow or buffalo milk for babies results from the
growing bottle feeding culture encouraged by irresponsible promotion by
the baby milk companies. Marketing restrictions do not make a product
unavailable for the very small segment of society for which it is
necessary, but protect the very large segment of society for which it is
not from commercial exploitation.