South Africa's draft Code on formula advertising
------------------------------------------------
"Interested persons are invited to submit any substantiated com-
ments or representations on the proposed regulations to
The Director-General of Health
Private Bag X828, Pretoria, 0001
South Africa (for the attention of the Director Nutrition)"
E-mails of support are not required, and paper letters are re-
quested. I don't know if they would accept printed e-mails that
I receive and post on?
The South African draft regulations may be downloaded from
http://www.doh.gov.za
Note: This is at the very least very worrisome!!
Claudio Schuftan
mailto:aviva@netnam.vn
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Democratic Alliance milks baby adverts
Dec 09 2003 04:12:09:607PM
The Democratic Alliance has slammed a proposal to restrict ads
for baby formula, bottles and teats, and says it infringes on
freedom of speech.
Cape Town - The health department's proposals to restrict adver-
tisements for baby formula, bottles and teats are a serious in-
fringement on freedom of speech, the Democratic Alliance said on
Tuesday.
While the DA recognised the need to promote breast-milk as the
best nutrition for infants, the department's draft Regulations
Relating to Foodstuffs for Infants and Young Children lacked
balance and common sense, the party's HIV and Aids spokesperson
Mike Waters said in a statement.
"In addition to banning advertisements for infant formula and
feeding gadgets, commentary about these products in the media
and all industry help lines - a serious infringement on freedom
of speech - the government is actually asking the manufacturers
of these products to discourage their use," he said.
Besides other reasons mothers might have for not breast-feeding,
the best scientific advice recommended that HIV-positive mothers
should not breast-feed because, even if their baby was born HIV-
negative, they could be infected through breast-feeding.
"This alone provides a sizeable market for infant formula and
related products. Manufacturers should be allowed to market
their products to these potential customers. The Department of
Health should not encroach on the free market.
"Instead of acting like Big Brother, the government should
rather ensure that mothers have the necessary information to
make an informed choice, both through its own media campaign and
through pre- and post-natal counselling at public health facili-
ties."
It was not necessary to place such draconian demands and re-
strictions on the industry to achieve the objective of healthier
infants and young children in South Africa, Waters said.