•The global health agency has raised concern that misleading claims by the industry has made to move away from breastfeeding their babies
•WHO in their latest advisory said the formal milk industry has intensified in their lobbying against vital breastfeeding support measures
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The World Health Organisation wants mothers protected from exploitative marketing tactics by the formula milk industry.
The global health agency has raised concern that misleading claims by the industry has made to move away from breastfeeding their babies.
Women are encouraged to breastfeed their children for two years or beyond, complementing breast milk after six months with other safe and nutritious foods.
Mothers are encouraged to initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of life and exclusively breastfeed for the first six months rather than use breast milk substitutes.
Unicef has on several occasions warned that formula is harder for babies to digest.
WHO in their latest advisory say the formula milk industry has intensified in their lobbying against vital breastfeeding support measures thus seriously jeopardising the health and rights of women and children.
“Actions are needed across different areas of society to better support mothers to breastfeed for as long as they want, alongside efforts to tackle exploitative formula milk marketing once and for all,” Professor Nigel Rollins, a scientist at WHO, said.
According to WHO, globally, only around one in two newborns are put to the breast within the first hour of life while fewer than half of infants under six months are exclusively breastfed, as per WHO recommendations.
“Breastfeeding provides immense and irreplaceable benefits to babies and young children,” it says.
“It helps children survive and develop to their full potential, providing vast nutritional benefits, reducing infection risks and lowering rates of obesity and chronic diseases in later life.”
Dr Yaron Wolman, chief of health Unicef Kenya, further says increasing breastfeeding to near-universal levels could save more than 800,000 lives every year across the world, the majority being children under six months of age.
“With this evidence, it is clear that support of breastfeeding is indeed crucial for the survival and optimal development of children,” Wolman said.
WHO says a small number of health conditions of the infant or the mother may justify recommending that she does not breast feed temporarily or permanently.
Whenever stopping breast feeding should be weighed against the risks posed by the presence of the specific conditions listed.