The 71st World Health Assembly (WHA) will take place on 21-26th May and we are calling for a new Resolution that will protect infants and young children. Since 1981 (when the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes was adopted) the Assembly…
WHO and UNICEF publish Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
Click here for the original 10 steps (1991) Click Here for ‘revised’ 10 Steps (2018) 11 April 2018 WHO and UNICEF has issued new guidance to protect, promote and support breastfeeding in health facilities. See the press release below and:…
Global Breastfeeding Collective
Global Breastfeeding Collective The Global Breastfeeding Collective brings together implementers and donors from governments, philanthropies, international organizations, civil society and is led by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO). UNICEF/Giacomo Pirozzi The Initiative’s vision is a world in which…
40 years ago, the Kennedy Hearings put the baby food industry under the spotlight
23rd May 1978
New concerns about Soy formulas
New Concerns about soy-based formulas. Babies fed soy-based formula have changes in reproductive system tissues CHOP co-author of NIH-led study: Subtle estrogen-like responses in infants point to need for longer-term follow-up of effects March 12, 2018, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia…
John Bolton’s record on the marketing of baby foods
John Bolton’s record on the marketing of baby foods John Bolton, President Trump’s new national security adviser is considered by many to be the man most likely to lead the US into war. The New York Times: “Mr. Bolton, in…
Changes to the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative
Changes to the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative IBFAN together with 4 other breastfeeding organisations ( WABA, ILCA, LLLI and the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative Network of Industrialized Nations, Central and Eastern European Nations and Independent States (BFHI Network) have worked over the past months on the…
Teaching Surrogate mothers to breastfeed
Evening Standard Wednesday, 14th March 2018 Pioneering London initiative teaches surrogate mothers to breastfeed ROSS LYDALL Justine White received an award from the British Journal of Midwifery for her work with mothers Women who become mothers via a surrogate are…
Plastic particles found in bottled water
Plastic particles found in bottled water David Shukman BBC Science editor CLICK HERE http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-43388870 Tests on major brands of bottled water (including Nestlé and Danone) have found that nearly all of them contained tiny particles of plastic. In the largest investigation of…
The Precautionary Principle – what is it and why is it so important
CLICK HERE https://agroecology-appg.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Why-should-the-Precautionary-Principle-be-preserved-APPG-Briefing-in-support-of-amendments-66-112-113-March-2018.pdf Why should the Precautionary Principle be preserved, post-Brexit? What is the Precautionary Principle? The Rio Declaration (1992) states that: Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used…
Nestle CEO (1980 – 1997) Helmut Maucher dies 7th March 2018
Baby Milk Action sends condolences to the family of Helmut Maucher, (Nestlé CEO from 1981 – 1997). However, while he is being praised as a strong and visionary leader, its important we not forget the harm he caused to so many children…
WHO in the claws of the lobbyists – on You tube
WHO: in the claws of the lobbyists? L’OMS : dans les griffes des lobbyistes ? This documentary film by Arte was broadcast in 2017 and is now available on Youtube. This is a hard hitting film featuring several IBFAN partners…
EU clamps down on misclassification of Foods for Special Medical Purposes
Commission Notice on the classification of Food for SpecialMedical Purposes (FSMP) (2017/C 401/01) CLICK HERE This is an important new document issued by the European ‘College’ – EU Institutions, bodies, offices and Agencies and the European Commission. This is a…
Bliss says no to sponsorship – Danone plays around with ethics on Radio 4
Bliss says no to sponsorship – Danone plays around with ethics on Radio 4 STOP PRESS Following feedback on its potential sponsorship from Nutricia Early Life Nutrition (Danone) BLISS has decided not to go ahead: “We now understand that this sponsorship…
Tell your MP what UK trade priorities should be post Brexit
URGENT ACTION NEEDED: Trade Bill – Discussions on post Brexit trade deals have already started and SUSTAIN is encouraging people to write to their MP to make sure concerned that British people and our MPs will all have a say in…
New Save the Children Children report: How formula milk firms target mothers who can least afford it
Save the Children’s new report Don’t push it has been launched today and so is now in the public domain. Save has received comments from Abbott, Danone, Nestle and RB, which can be found on its website alongside its statements…
Could your health visitor win the Julie Crawford Award 2018?
Could your Health Visitor win the 2018 Julie Crawford Award for Breastfeeding Support? Julie Crawford Award for Breastfeeding Support 2018 Nominations are now OPEN The Baby Feeding Law Group is seeking nominations for the Julie Crawford Award for Breastfeeding Support.…
Conflicts of Interest concerns about three members of WHO’s new High-level Commission on NCDs
In response to the call for comments on WHO’s proposals for an Independent Global High-level Commission on NCDs I sent the comments below, outlining our serious concerns about the appropriateness of three of the proposed Commissioners, who will have an ‘advisory’ role: Arnaud…
Larsson-Rosenquist Family’s vested interest in Medela
https://www.ibfan-icdc.org/conflict-of-interest-the-breastfeeding-friendly-country-index-project/ 28 OCT 2015 CONFLICT OF INTEREST – THE BREASTFEEDING FRIENDLY COUNTRY INDEX PROJECT Posted at 10:06h in Code Related by Ibfan-Penang 0Likes We anticipate that in the near future, many (mothers, health workers, and public health advocates, etc.) will…
Links to mixed news
Below are links to a mixed range of news – starting with this paper that has been in preparation for quite some time. Interference in public health policy: examples of how the baby food industry uses tobacco industry tactics Learning…
IBFAN at the 142nd WHO Executive Board Meeting
142nd session of the Executive Board 22–27 January 2018, Geneva, Switzerland CLICK HERE for the webcasts of all the meetings. This has been a hectic week once more at the WHO Executive Board (EB)- and we have needed to give…
G2H2 the Geneva Global Health Hub – pre meeting before
WHO governance: The conversation continues Civil society meetings related to WHO EB142, 19-20 January 2018 Baby Milk Action is a member of the Geneva Global Health Hub G2H2 that was launched during a civil society side event at the 69th World…
New paper: Attempts to Redefine Conflicts of Interest in Medicine
Attempts to Redefine Conflict of Interest. Accountability in Research. December 6, 2017. Marc A. Rodwin. DOI: 10.1080/08989621.2017.1405728 English version HERE French version: HERE Abstract: The traditional legal concept of conflict of interest is a practical tool to regulate conduct. In…
French salmonella baby milk scandal ‘affects 83 countries’
French salmonella baby milk scandal ‘affects 83 countries’ 14th January 2017 CLICK HERE for the BBC World Service interview with Alison Linnecar, IBFAN global working group on chemical and microbiological contamination of infant feeding products. (Click Here for the website) The…
Timothy Stamps – National Hero and friend of the International Code
Baby Milk Action and all our IBFAN colleagues were saddened to hear the news that Timothy Stamps – Zimbabwean minister for health from 1986 to 2002 and a long time outspoken supporter of breastfeeding and the International Code at the World Health…
French and US Trade delegations put child health at risk
CLICK HERE for PDF in Spanish French and US Trade delegations put child health at risk 39th Codex Alimentarius Nutrition Committee (CCNFSDU), Berlin, Germany 4th – 8th December 2017 The nutrition committee of the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission – the UN body…
French Government calls for global withdrawal of Lactalis formulas
French Government calls for global withdrawal of Lactalis formulas. 14.12.2017 It took almost ten days for the Government of France to react to the scandal of widespread contamination of powdered formula milks produced by the giant French dairy producer Lactalis.…
Interference in public health policy: examples of how the baby food industry uses tobacco industry tactics
CLICK HERE for this new report just published on World Nutrition Interference in public health policy: examples of how the baby food industry uses tobacco industry tactics Sabrina Ionata Granheim Independent consultant on nutrition Katrin Engelhardt Independent Public Health Nutritionist Patti Rundall Policy…
Links to useful articles
IndiaSupplementaryfood Sathyamala-2017-Development_and_Change WHO against formulated supplementary food for moderate malnutrition Rema Nagarajan| TNN | Oct 12, 2017, 20:13 IST https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/WHO-against-formulated-supplementary-food-for-moderate-malnutrition/articleshow/61055411.cms NEW DELHI: The World Health Organisation (WHO) in its recent guidelines to tackle the global epidemic obesity categorically recommended “not…
IBFAN at WHO’s 13th General Programme of Work
Update: IBFAN intervention on the GWP at the Executive Board Meeting in January 201. CLICK HERE for reports from the special Executive Board in November 2018 with links to the webcasts IBFAN SUBMISSIONS ON THE DRAFT General Programme of Work Baby…
MPs fail to retain the Precautionary Principle –
MPs fail to retain the Precautionary Principle. What does it mean for baby food marketing ? Tonight UK MPs voted against a new clause that would have ensured that important environmental protection would continue after Brexit Exit Day. The characteristic feature of…
Priti Patel – Secretary of State for International Development:
Following the revelation of 12 secret meetings with Israeli ministers during a holiday earlier this year, Priti Patel, UK Secretary of State for International Development was called back from a trip to Uganda and Kenya and forced to resign. CLICK HERE to be…
New Codex comment on Follow-up Formula
IBFAN’s new comment on the revision of the Follow-up Standard (Codex Stan 156-1987) Please share with your country delegates Codex paper IBFAN’s point by point comments on Follow-up Formula CLICK HERE IACFO’s comments are the same as IBFAN’s CLICK HERE…
Call to Boycott the GMM meeting in Frankfurt
Call to Boycott the GMM meeting in Frankfurt (Click here) This message is to clarify IBFAN’s Call to Action regarding the upcoming meeting in Frankfurt that will, among other things, discuss a proposal for a Global Monitoring Mechanism organised…
New DRAFT: IBFAN comments on WHO’s Plan of Work
STOP PRESS: WHO has now published its draft 13th General Programme of Work (GPW13). English Strategy on a page WHO Impact Framework http://www.who.int/about/gpw-thirteen-consultation/en/ “The draft 13th General Programme of Work will be discussed at a Special Session of WHO’s Executive…
New IBFAN Codex Comments
CLICK HERE for the consultation page where you will find IBFAN’s new comments on 3 important issues that will be discussed in Berlin in December.
Call to action: IBFAN stands up to a new initiative by the Gates Foundation
Page down for list of endorsers and PDFs in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese Call to action Protecting infant health: IBFAN stands up to a new initiative by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation A few years ago, the Bill…
International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) and Conflicts of Interest
Look at who the Niti Aayog is consulting October 26, 2017, 6:31 PM IST Rema Nagarajan in Staying Alive | India | Times of India DISCLAIMER : Views expressed below are the author’s own. International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) is globally known for…
URGENT Call for EU member states to support UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights
URGENT Call for EU member states to support UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights CLICK HERE for PDF CLICK here for links to webcasts etc CLICK here for the daily Updates from the European Colation for Corporate…
Preventing Human Rights abuses by Transnational Corporations
3rd Session of Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations The third session of the IGWG for the elaboration of an international instrument to regulate TNCs and Other Business Enterprises (OBEs) with respect to Human Rights started yesterday and will…
68th Session on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Opening of Session
At Palais the Nations, the 3rd Session of the 68th Session of the Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The Opening of Session IGWG on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights is officially open! You…
WHO Western Pacific and the Protection of Children from Harmful marketing
Protecting Children from Harmful marketing October 2017 The meeting of WHO’s Western Pacific Region (WPRO) took place last week in Brisbane, Australia 9-13th October and a new Resolution (WPR/RC68.R3) Protecting Children from Harmful Marketing was adopted. The 37 countries and…
New Codex Briefing: revision of Follow-up Formula Standard
New Codex Briefing IBFAN Follow-up Formula Briefing IBFAN’s Codex Working Group has prepared a briefing paper to highlight our recommendations for the revision of the Follow-up Formula Codex Standard (Codex Stan 156-1987) at the 39th Codex nutrition meeting to be held in…
World Bank must stop promoting “dangerous” public-private partnerships
Click Here: PPP for the Statement, World Bank must stop promoting “dangerous” public-private partnerships Brussels/Washington DC, October 11 2017. A new campaign aimed at reversing the dangerous rush to promote expensive and high-risk public-private partnerships (PPPs) was launched today by civil…
44th Committee on Food Security in Rome
You can watch the proceeding of this important Committee HERE The Multi Stakeholder Public Private Partnership approach is being heavily pushed as the solution to many many problems – including disputes over land rights, land grabbing, deforestation, mono-cropping etc. Thankfully there are…
Joint Statement on the care of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
IYCF-E Joint Statement Bangladesh_final INFANT AND YOUNG CHILD FEEDING in EMERGENCIES JOINT STATEMENT ON ACTION Institute of Public Health Nutrition (IPHN), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, UN Agencies (UNICEF, WHO and WFP) and Nutrition Cluster Partners call for all involved…
Corporate power on show at the Conservative conference
Baby Milk Action is not aligned to any political party. Here are some of the notable things I spotted at the Conservative Conference in Manchester in October. Sugar and Nuclear power: With hardly any fringe events on health on the agenda, I was still…
New Guidance to protect Infant health in Emergencies.
See statement on the Joint Statement on the care of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and the appeal to the Mexican Health Minister The new, updated Operational Guidance for Emergency Relief Staff and Programme Managers , developed by the IFE Core Group…
Key Actions You Can Take Today To Support The #BindingTreaty to #StopCorporateAbuse
Key Actions You Can Take Today To Support The #BindingTreaty to #StopCorporateAbuse: http://www.treatymovement.com/get-more-involved/ Acciones para Apoyar el #TratadoVinculante contra #AbusosPorEmpresas: http://www.treatymovement.com/unase-al-movimiento/ Actions pour soutenir le #TraitéContraignant contre #ViolationsParEntreprises: http://www.treatymovement.com/pour-se-mobiliser-encore-plus/
No one should be a judge in his own cause – concerns about Gates monitoring
IBFAN’s has concerns about a new, Global Monitoring Mechanism (GMM), funded by the Gates Foundation (BMGF) and facilitated by the Meridian Institute. IBFAN agreed to be consulted initially. However, the final report takes little account of the views expressed and proposes that the…