AKBAYAN Representatives Risa Hontiveros and Etta Rosales urged the Supreme Court today to uphold a government policy that bans the advertising of breast milk substitutes for babies and children up to 2 years old. In a motion to intervene in a landmark Supreme Court case filed by pharmaceutical companies against the Department on Health, the solons blamed the unregulated and predatory marketing of infant formulas for the death of thousands of Filipino children and for the affliction of others due to preventable diseases.
"Breast milk is the best food for infants and children. It has superior nutritional value and it has no substitute. It can also prevent common diseases like diarrhea and acute respiratory infection. Yet, due to the aggressive promotion of infant formula and other breast milk substitutes by pharmaceutical companies, only 16% of Filipino infants are breastfed exclusively at four to five months, one of the lowest worldwide,” Rep. Hontiveros explained.
In terms of public health, the damage caused by the low rate of breastfeeding in the country is staggering, according to Rep. Hontiveros. “At least half a billion pesos are lost due to the high infant mortality rate in the country today. The government spends at least P230 million for the hospitalization to treat infant illnesses that could have been prevented had they been breastfed properly. For infants who suffer from diarrhea and acute respiratory illnesses alone, P150 million go to out-of-pocket expenses for visits to health clinics, purchase of medicines and hospitalization. Meanwhile, wages lost by parents to take care of sick infants amount to P1 billion each year,” Rep. Hontiveros added.
For her part, AKBAYAN Rep. Etta Rosales twitted the pharmaceutical industry for its greed. “An immense amount of private and public funds are lost due to the greed of multinational pharmaceutical companies. They are earning P21 billion each year from the sale of breast milk substitutes,” Rep. Rosales said. “They should be compelled to recognize that the regulation of the promotion of infant formulas is not a trade issue but a question of promoting human rights and public health.”
“Their relentless and unregulated promotion of infant formulas is a vicious form of lying. Mothers are led to believe that breast milk substitutes would make infant and children have better IQ, better immune system, better vision, and better health. The scientific community and public health advocates have already proven these claims to be untrue,” Rep. Rosales pointed out.
According to Rep. Rosales, by foisting these lies upon the public, Filipino mothers are blinded from the superior benefits of breastfeeding. “A DOH report shows that breastfeeding can prevent around 1.2 million illness episodes of diarrhea and acute respiratory infection; 10 million days of illness; 450,000 health facility visits; and 36,000 infant hospitalizations,” Rep. Rosales said.
“The Philippine government has the authority to intervene in an industry that grossly undermines public health. Breast milk is the most important food for infants and it is irreplaceable,” she stressed.
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