Joint meeting of the High Level Group on Nutrition and Physical Activity and the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health on 26 October 2018, in Luxembourg Joint Meeting Agenda Platform Agenda Minutes of the Platform meeting…
IBFAN’s comments after the Frankfurt meeting convened by Meridian Institute
IBFAN’s comments after the Frankfurt meeting convened by Meridian Institute Thanks to GIFA for this post. News > IBFAN’s comments after the Frankfurt meeting convened by Meridian Institute Despite IBFAN’s November 2017 Call to Action, Meridian Institute (MI) convened the…
Urgent call to protect child health from harmful trade rules
The UN committee that deals with trade – the Codex Committee on Nutrition – will be meeting in Berlin from 24th -30th November 2018. CLICK HERE for background This is a critically important meeting for child health and IBFAN and…
2018 Report Private Sector: Who is Accountable?
Although this contains some welcome critical comments, the overall conclusion is that public private partnerships are the way to go…. The 2018 Report Private Sector: Who is Accountable? by the UN Secretary-General’s Independent Accountability Panel for Every Woman, Every Child,…
Tackling Conflicts of Interest and protecting Breastfeeding at the Party Conferences
Congratulations Barrie Margetts on delivering a great platform address, at Labour Party Conference 2018, speaking passionately on the ‘tackling inequalities debate’. Posted by Joe Dukes on Wednesday, 26 September 2018 Professor Barrie Margetts, Southampton Test CLP, making a great intervention…
EU Court of Justice rules that breastfeeding mothers who work night shifts must enjoy specific protection
cp180134en Pregnant workers, workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding who work shifts, some of which are at night, must be regarded as performing night work and enjoy specific protection against the risks that night work is liable…
Useful articles on Conflicts of Interest
Links to useful article on Conflicts of Interest. Click on the Conflicts of Interest tag for blog posts on this topic. Click here for the Alliance Against Conflicts of Interest in India http://www.aaci-india.org CLICK HERE for a link to papers relating to IBFAN’s…
Everything You Wanted to Know About the Code: New Resources Available
Issue 19 | September 1, 2018 Everything You Wanted to Know About the Code: New Resources Available © UNICEF/UN0228388/Appleton Dear colleagues, In this issue of UNICEF Working to Improve Nutrition at Scale, I am glad to share three recent resources…
Baby Milk promotions in supermarkets
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/baby-milk-promotions-major-supermarkets-13176156.amp Mirror. 1.9.18 Baby milk promotions at major supermarkets could be ILLEGAL as shops ignore laws designed to encourage breastfeeding EXCLUSIVE: Campaigners say potentially illegal deals and displays are reported every week with ASDA, Sainsbury’s, Boots, Tesco and Superdrug…
The resurgent influence of big formula:Education on infant feeding must not be left to industry
14_Press_Cutting_bmj.k3577.full BMJ 2018;362:k3577 doi: 10.1136/bmj.k3577 (Published 23 August 2018) The resurgent influence of big formula Education on infant feeding must not be left to industry Natalie S Shenker Human Milk Foundation In May, word spread from the World Health…
BFI Blog: Taking action against misleading marketing
Taking action against misleading marketing Patti Rundall. 20 August 2018 Building on her interview on Dispatches, this guest blog from Baby Milk Action’s Patti Rundall discusses misleading marketing of breastmilk substitutes and how we can better protect families from commercial interests. …
New resolution to protect breastfeeding proposed in US Congress
Thanks to Marsha Walker, National Alliance for Breastfeeding Action for this message: New legislative action in the US at the federal level is being proposed following the recent actions of the US government’s interference with the 2018 WHA breastfeeding resolution. In…
New UNICEF report: 78 million newborns at risk when breastfeeding is delayed
New UNICEF Report: CAPTURE THE MOMENT: Early initiation of breastfeeding: The best start for every newborn http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/infantfeeding/capture-moment-early-initiation-bf-report.pdf?ua=1 Al Jazeera and news agencies UNICEF: 78 million newborns at risk when breastfeeding is delayed Babies should be breastfed within an hour of…
Channel 4 Dispatches: Breastfeeding uncovered – and other UK media coverage
CLICK HERE to watch Dispatches: Breastfeeding uncovered. Broadcast on UK Channel 4 on Monday 30th July, 2018 and includes Baby Milk Action’s Policy Director, Patti Rundall being interviewed by Kate Quilton. CLICK HERE for Blog posts on the UNICEF Baby…
More media coverage following President Trump’s tweet.
The media coverage following the New York Times exposé continues with over 600 online editorial articles and about 900 social media posts. Below are just some of the recent articles and programs including one from 2015 that gives an insight…
Conflicts of Interest and US pressure at the Codex meeting in Rome
41st CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy. 2-6 July 2018 REPORT CLICK HERE for press release on the Codex Nutrition meeting in Germany, December 2017 See Consultation Page for our latest submission on the proposed structure for a revised…
What’s all the fuss about? Q&A on 2018 World Health Assembly
U.S. Opposition to Breast-Feeding Resolution Stuns World Health Officials followed by a Tweet by President Trump that this was all ‘fake news’. Consensus text proposed by Botswana, Ecuador, The Gambia, Ghana, Mozambique, Nepal, Pakistan, Panama, Senegal shared with…
Letters of support and outrage about the US actions
ISSOP-US Statement on America’s Opposition to the International Resolution The International Society of Social Pediatrics and Child Health (ISSOP), in concert with collaborating national and international societies of pediatrics (www.ISSOP.org), condemns in the most robust terms possible American officials’ attempts at…
U.S. Opposition to Breast-Feeding Resolution Stuns World Health Officials
CLICK HERE for stories so far: CLICK HERE for the The New York Times‘ Editorial Board denouncement of the United States’ bullying at the World Health Assembly. U.S. Opposition to Breast-Feeding Resolution Stuns World Health Officials A Brooklyn mother unable…
Petition to end unhealthy sponsorship of the World Cup
FIFA Petition_Removal unhealthy product sponsorship from the World Cup_June2018 PETITION FIFA TO REMOVE UNHEALTHY PRODUCT SPONSORSHIP FROM THE WORLD CUP Join Latin American organizations from over 20 countries who are calling upon the FIFA and its Human Rights Advisory Board…
Rome: IBFAN highlights conflicts of interest in Codex Standards setting
Report from the Codex Commission meeting in Rome – 2-6th July 2018 The Final Report of this meeting is has now been published CLICK HERE The 41st meeting of the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) – the UN body that sets standards…
Draft Council conclusions Healthy Nutrition for Children: The Healthy Future of Europe
Draft Council conclusions Healthy Nutrition for Children: The Healthy Future of Europe Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council session on 22 June 2018 Conclusions on “Healthy nutrition for children: The healthy future of Europe” On 26 April 2018,…
Media distortion of guidance for Midwives
Following the publication of new Guidance from the Royal College of Midwives there has been a flurry of media interest and some simply appalling media coverage that totally distorts the intent of the guidance. Click Here Thank heavens for Baby…
A Moment of Reckoning for Nutrition Advocates at the WHA
CLICK HERE Written by Amruta Byatnal Published on June 7, 2018 News Deeply, Malnutrition Deeply A Moment of Reckoning for Nutrition Advocates at the WHA Nutrition advocates have accused the U.S. of siding with private sector interests, sparking a…
APPGIFI: Parliamentary Inquiry on the cost of infant formula
APPGIFI: Parliamentary Inquiry on the cost of infant formula http://www.infantfeedingappg.uk/appg-inquiry-infant-formula-costs/ The All Party Parliamentary Group on Infant Feeding and Inequalities has launched an inquiry on the costs of infant formula to families in the UK and the impact that…
UK Health Select Committee on childhood obesity includes Early Years at last
CLICK HERE for background papers 5Early years and schools Early years 60.The first 1000 days (from conception to a child’s second birthday) are widely considered to be the most formative in a child’s development, with health behaviours already heavily…
IBFAN at the 71st World Health Assembly (WHA)
CLICK HERE for a link to the Text of the WHA Resolution that was finally adopted today at 10.55 am. CLICK HERE for PDF Please note the very serious omissions and the problematic sections that the US managed to force…
State of the Code Charts 2018 – how well have countries done in protecting babies?
15 May, 2018 Every two years since 1986, IBFAN-ICDC publishes the State of the Code by Country (SOCC), an easy-to-view chart listing the status of 198 countries in Code implementation. Findings of the SOCC 2018 reflect that 36 countries have…
Comments on WHO’s High Level Commission
Consultation on the draft report of the WHO Independent High-level Commission on NCDs (Deadline: 16 May 2018) Baby Milk Action/IBFAN UK comments on this consultation (PDF or page down for full text) While this draft report contains some useful observations, these…
PDFs added and weblink for Press Conference: Health governance in the public interest?
Health governance in the public interest? WHO redefines conflicts of interest and risks undermining public health mandates Watch the webcast of this excellent Press Conference: http://pressclub.ch/health-governance-in-the-public-interest/?lang=en Here are the Presentations by David Klemperer and Judith Richter Note: Among the many things worth noting were…
Tackling Conflicts of Interest at the Zero Hunger Conference in Ecuador
The Third Zero Hunger Summit brought together experts from 35 countries and nine presidents to analyze mechanisms to combat nutrition problems in the Ecuadorian city of Cuenca. Several former presidents, including Oscar Arias (Costa Rica) and Nobel Peace Prize winner…
New ‘final’ draft 14 May: Help get a strong World Health Assembly Resolution that protects mothers and babies.
Please tweet your MP and the following people to ask the UK to support a strong Resolution next week. Remind them that the protection of breastfeeding and conflict of Interest safeguards are urgently needed for babies everywhere. http://www.babymilkaction.org/archives/17081 Penny Mordaunt @PennyMordaunt …
Save the Children Children Don’t Push it report: How formula milk firms target mothers who can least afford it
Save the Children has published an important new report Don’t push it that clearly shows that the Baby food industry is continuing to use marketing practices that undermine breastfeeding and child health, while pretending to abide by the World Health…
40 years ago, the Kennedy Hearings put the baby food industry under the spotlight
US Senate Hearings, Infant formula in Developing countries, 23rd May 1978 This is an important compilation of excerpts of the testaments given at the Senator Edward Kennedy Hearing. The Hearing helped prompt the eventual adoption of the International Code in…
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:…
Comment on: Lessons from Interactions between public health and the food and drinks industry
Lessons from interactions between public health and the food and drinks industry This new report from the UK Health Forum contains experiences from a dozen Public Private Partnerships and Multi-Stakeholder (MSH) arrangements in Nutrition that focus on voluntary self-regulated initiatives.…
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…
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…
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…
Big Parma calls for more trust
AstroZeneca calls for more ‘trust’ in its ‘What science can do’ lecture Pascal Soriot, CEO AstraZeneca, Kate Pretty 2nd Annual Lecture: Homerton College. Thursday 8th March 2018 The Cambridge Life science cluster at a pivot point. I have many…
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…
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…