Battle over breast-feeding reaches Philippine Supreme Court, practice declining in As

Maverick · Jun 19, 2007

The women movement is very active in Philipines

Battle over breast-feeding reaches Philippine Supreme Court, practice declining in Asia

The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 19, 2007

MANILA, Philippines: The debate over whether new moms should breast-feed entered the top Philippine court Tuesday, with health officials claiming that aggressive advertising has many women believing that formula is better than their own milk.
With breast-feeding rates declining across Asia — about 35 percent of mothers breast-feed exclusively for their baby's first six months — the Philippine Health Department last year proposed regulations to strengthen its national milk code.
The goal was to make it harder for formula companies to target parents of children under age 2 with advertising for products that claim to foster smarter, stronger babies. The earlier regulations banned companies from promoting products for infants younger than 1 year old.
"We have seen a dramatic decrease of our breast-feeding rates," said Health Department Undersecretary Alexander Padilla. "We have seen an increase of the profits and sale of infant formula companies."
The Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines has sued the government agency, arguing only Congress has the power to change regulations. The Supreme Court initially backed the health department, but on appeal, it ordered a temporary halt to the stiffer rules. In addition to the tightened advertising restrictions, the regulations call for stricter labeling that would include warnings that formula could be harmful if contaminated and tougher penalties for companies that do not comply.
PHAP attorney Felicitas Aquino-Arroyo told justices Tuesday that the new regulations were unconstitutional because the department had exceeded its authority.
She said U.S.-based milk companies Wyeth, Mead Johnson Nutritionals and Abbott Laboratories along with British-based GlaxoSmithKline — all represented by the association — stand to lose about US$208 million if the new rules are adopted because industry will be forced to change labels and destroy milk products already in circulation.
She argued the advertising ban also deprives women of a right to information that would allow them to freely choose whether to use formula.
"PHAP and the milk companies have been painted to look like a corporate ogre, motivated by nothing more than corporate profits," she said after the court adjourned. "That is not the issue in this case. We are not battling breast-feeding."
About a dozen Filipina mothers lined up outside the court to protest against formula and promote breast-feeding. They displayed their bare chests, which had been brightly spray-painted with slogans like "God's milk is life" and "Greedy milk companies."
The row has prompted the Washington-based U.S. Chamber of Commerce to intervene. Its chief sent a letter to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo urging her to re-examine the Health Department's plan or risk the country's "reputation as a stable and viable destination for investment."
Attorney Agnes Devanadera, representing the health department, argued that exceptions would be made to the ban for ads that a department committee says do not undermine breast-feeding or idealize breast milk substitutes.
"It is a matter of explaining to our people, for those who have forgotten, that there is no substitute for breast milk," she told the court. "We are not prohibiting the sale of milk substitutes, but we are prohibiting the advertisements."
The World Health Organization recommends mothers nurse exclusively for the first six months and continue providing breast milk along with complementary foods until age 2. Research has shown that babies given breast milk develop fewer respiratory and intestinal diseases, and those given formula have a greater chance of developing asthma or allergies later in life, along with obesity. WHO estimates up to 1.45 million children die annually in poor countries because of low breast-feeding rates.
UNICEF says exclusive breast-feeding rates during the first four to five months have dipped from 20 percent in 1998 to 16 percent in 2003 in the Philippines, where more women with disposable income are working full time and juggling busy lifestyles like many women in the West.
But unlike mothers in the United States and the European Union, who are moving more toward breast-feeding in the first few months, many in rapidly developing Asian countries are abandoning the practice.
Thailand has the region's lowest exclusive breast-feeding rate during the first six months, with only 5.4 percent of mothers nursing. Vietnam's rate has fallen from 29 percent in 1998 to 15 percent in 2002, while Indonesia dropped from 42 percent in 1997 to 40 percent in 2002.
UNICEF and the WHO support a woman's right to choose whatever method she wants to feed her baby, but argue the formula companies should not use misleading advertisements that make milk products seem more appealing than breast milk.
"The average family in the developing world, they don't breast feed because they think bottle feeding is better," said Karen Codling, a regional nutrition specialist at UNICEF's East Asia Pacific office. "The whole code of marketing was developed to say that women have the right to choose. But in order for them to choose, they have to get accurate information."
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nyckeion · Jun 19, 2007

but some ppl arent comfortable about it so why would they make it a law

master_g · Jun 19, 2007

i dont think it should be done in public, its indecent imo, put milk in bottle while ur out. i would NEVER let my wife pull her breast out in MacDonald's.

gawain187 · Jun 19, 2007

This is crazy, It should depend on the mood, whether they feel like it or not. We shouldn't be forced to do something.

wind2000 · Jun 19, 2007

Breastfeed is way better than formula ones. Baby develop better immune system because antibodies are found in mother's milk which is not found in formula. Also, it helps with the bonding process.

kdotc · Jun 19, 2007

i saw on tv...hundresd of mothers in manila breast feeding babies

Battle over breast-feeding reaches Philippine Supreme Court, practice declining in As

Maverick Lord Vader

nyckeion ....Boo....

master_g .

gawain187 Well-Known Member

wind2000 Self Schemata

kdotc 안녕하세요빅뱅K-Dragon입니다