Hong Kong - An attractive, smiling, healthy-looking couple
pose with their thumbs up in front of a billboard in a Hong Kong
railway station showing a teddy bear.
Alongside them is a picture of the US brand Abbott's 'Eye Q' Gain
Advance baby milk range which the advert claims has gained the trust
of parents, and boasts: 'Abbott formulas are of superior quality and
safety.'
It looks harmless enough ... a nice image to assure parents about
the safety of a baby milk. That assurance would seem perfectly
reasonable in light of the recent melamine milk scandal in China
which claimed four babies lives and more than 50,000 took ill after
drinking formula milk tainted with the chemical.
However, according to an international watchdog, it is just
another example of how baby formula milk manufacturers in Asia
violate an international code aimed at preventing harmful marketing
which could sway a mother away from breastfeeding.
'It is too promotional and therefore a violation of the code,'
said a spokesman from the code monitoring centre of the International
Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN).
The code in question is the International Code of Marketing of
Breastmilk Substitutes - written by UNICEF and adopted in 1981
by the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World
Health Organisation (WHO).
It covers a wide area including the promotion, labelling,
advertising of breast milk substitutes and bans any offers of free
samples and incentives to mothers and health professionals.
From 2005, more than 70 countries had made all or most of the
code's resolutions law - including 24 of the 30 Asia-Pacific
countries and territories such as India, Indonesia and China.
In Thailand, a few provisions of the code have made it into the
statute books. However, in other places such as Hong Kong, Japan and
Singapore, it remains mostly voluntary with governments relying on
the industry itself to self-regulate.
Even in places where law enforcement is not ideal, it is not
unusual to still find promotional advertisements, says IBFAN.
This is especially so in the wake of the melamine milk
scandal, says IBFAN, with international brand manufacturers stepping
up advertising and other forms of promotion to increase
sales in China and maintain consumer confidence.
In a report entitled 'Look What They Are Doing 2007,' IBFAN
highlighted several violations across Asia.
These include leaflets promoting formula brands which are passed
off as educational or information for mothers, promotional displays
offering free gifts with purchases in supermarkets, labels which
claim the milk formula can boost brain power and growth - all of
which could influence a mother's decision about whether to
breastfeed.
IBFAN says hospitals and health professionals contribute to the
the violations by accepting free samples, gifts, promotional material
and free supplies of milk formula which is then handed out to new
mothers in hospitals and maternity units.
The practice of giving free supplies is common, says IBFAN,
and is used by manufacturers to build brand loyalty by hooking new
customers while in hospital.
In Hong Kong, local groups promoting breastfeeding are now urging
the health department to ban the practice as it makes formula milk
seem more acceptable or even better than breast milk for a baby's
health and development.
The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six
months, and then augmented by food and continued
breastfeeding for two years and more.
Dr Patricia Ip Lai-sheung, Vice Chairperson of the Baby Friendly
Hospital Initiative Hong Kong Association, said the practice took
place in both government and private hospitals.
'There is a conflict of interest when you are an organization
promoting breastfeeding but you receive free formula. You are telling
the public you approve of the use of the formula and especially
certain types,' said Dr Ip.
Maggie Holmes, of La Leche League Hong Kong, a group dedicated to
helping women breastfeed, said donating supplies to hospitals was
purely a marketing tactic by manufacturers.
'It is not done out of altruism because chances are the mother
will stick with the same brand when they leave hospital.'
IBFAN hopes that the melamine milk scandal will cause
governments to put more effort into the protection of breastfeeding
and implementation of the code.
A spokesman for Abbott Nutrition, the company behind the
advertisement in the Hong Kong station, said it complies with all
applicable laws and regulations in all countries where it does
business. However, it did not respond to questions about whether the
advertisement was in breach of the international code.
IBFAN's code monitoring centre shows the importance of
government support in achieving an effective code. It compared the
Hong Kong advert to campaigns in other Asian countries, where the
code is tighter or supported by laws.
In Singapore, where the code is industry-led and voluntary, Abbott
ran a slightly less promotional advert to reassure parents about the
safety of their brands.
In contrast to Malaysia where the code is actively
overseen by the government, the same company used only a plain,
text-only and factual advert.
'The same company (Abbott-Ross) behaves in ways in different
countries depending on how the regulations or code are enforced,'
said a spokeswoman for IBFAN.
'Hong Kong is the worst because there is no code and companies do
not respect the international code. The least violations are in
Malaysia which has an updated voluntary code and serious staff in the
ministry of health who monitor the situation and follow up on any
reported violations.'
USA
Your Talkback on this Story