Consumers and health professionals should be protected from exploitative marketing used by the baby formula milk industry

SAMRC Chief Specialist Scientist invited to lead a commentary to a new Lancet series on breastfeeding which exposes the exploitative tactics used to sell commercial formula milk

The World Health Organisation has initiated a call to try and curb the exploitive marketing tactics used to encourage health workers to promote, and mothers to purchase baby formula. The call is substantiated with a three-paper series that was published on 8 February in The Lancet. The critical position of The Lancet journal is in providing information on science from experienced scientists to advance health work and improve human progress. The breastfeeding series illustrates how breastfeeding has been proven to have lifelong benefits for infants and children. The polarised representation of commercialised baby formula has clasped homes of parents, health professionals and academic institutions through media platform distributions of compelling and scientifically false messaging that encourage high consumption of baby milk formula. Research that has been conducted shows that only 48% of the worlds infants and children are breastfed, a concerning practice for newborn and child health and development.

The Lancet series leads a discourse that must result in programmes and policy actions that curb marketing and prevent political lobbying, including a framework that regulates the saturated commercialisation of marketing food for infants and young children. South Africa will launch The Lancet series at the University of Western Cape on 10 February, the launch will have a panel discussion on how baby milk formula is portrayed as an optimal choice.  Professor Linda Richter from the University of Witwatersrand will lead the panel and Professor Tanya Doherty (chief specialist scientist, SAMRC) will be part of the panel that will also discuss how to broaden the training of health-care workers on the importance of breastfeeding, this with the intention to affect adequate support to parents before and after birth.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The commentary led by the SAMRC, Chief Specialist Scientist: Health Systems Research is available here: Stemming commercial milk formula marketing: now is the time for radical transformation to build resilience for breastfeeding - The Lancet

For more enquiries:

Yolanda Phakela
(Public Relations Manager)
Cell: 073 801 3691
Email: Yolanda.Phakela@mrc.ac.za

Professor Tanya Doherty
(Chief Specialist Scientist: Health Systems Research Unit)
Cell: 083 453 7251
Email: Tanya.Doherty@mrc.ac.za