Date Published: 10 August 2012

Thai Government initiative to protect, support and promote breastfeeding

A Cabinet-level Thai Government initiative to monitor and control marketing of infant formula and other substitutes for breastfeeding has been praised today, 10 August 2012, by UNICEF - the United Nations agencies for health and children.

" The unethical marketing and promotion of infant formula and other breastfeeding substitute products in health facilities has served to undermine breastfeeding in Thailand," the Thailand representative for UNICEF, Bijaya Rajbhandari, and the country representatives for the World Health Organization (WHO), Maureen Birmingham, said in a joint statement.

" This resolution by the Cabinet, which should help put a stop to these practices, is a commendable and critical step towards ensuring the best start in life for all children in Thailand," the officials said.

The Cabinet's resolution endorsed proposed measures by the Ministry of Public Health to seek cooperation from all medical and health care facilities in barring promotional activities for breast milk substitutes and related products or accepting donations to allow those activities.

The resolution also calls upon medical and health care personnel to "protect, support and promote breastfeeding," and to not represent manufacturers, importers and distributors of breast milk substitutes and related products, according to the two UN agencies.

Why ? In May 2012 UNICEF expressed concern about the decline of breastfeeding across East Asia and the need to ensure that mothers understand the long-term benefits of breastfeeding for the survival and development of their children.
According to the UNICEF, evidence shows that exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby's life not only improves their future growth and educational achievement, but also significantly reduces national health costs and helps prevent chronic malnutrition.

The promotion and marketing of breast milk substitutes in health facilities was a violation of the International Code of Breast-milk substitutes, adopted in 1981 by the World Health Assembly (according to a joint statement made on 10 Aug '12 by the World Health Organization WHO and UNICEF). Dr. Birmingham said that Thailand now needs to pursue effective regulation of the marketing of breastfeeding substitutes and related products to mothers both within and outside of health facilities.

Current & recent situation: 2012 Thai Ministry of Public Health data indicates that only about 15% of mothers in Thailand exclusively breastfeed for the first six months and a large-scale survey in 2007 by the National Statistical Office found that about 15% of babies had never been breastfed.

About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

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