Bangladesh is going to have a tougher law to tackle 'aggressive marketing' of baby food companies that overwhelm the proper feeding practices of under-2 children.
Health Minister A F M Ruhal Haque said on Tuesday, ahead of World Breastfeeding Week, that they would place the law in one of the Cabinet meetings in August.
The ministry started the process three years back to replace the 1984 Breastmilk Substitute Ordinance as experts suggested a strong law to support live-saving feeding practices in Bangladesh where nearly 50 percent children are malnourished.
Dr S K Roy, Chairperson of the Bangladesh Breastfeeding Foundation that helped the ministry to draft the law, told bdnews24.com that the draft prohibited promotions of breast milk substitutes at all level. "It will strengthen the punishment for violation as well."
He said companies would not be able to advertise their products for under-2 children in any medium including televisions and newspapers.
He said the draft law was of high international standards one and said if passed, it would make companies marketing under-2 powder milk or any supplement to write clearly in big letters in the middle of the container that 'this product is not germ free and there is no alternative to breast milk.'
Roy said healthcare professionals would not be able to attend any seminars at home or abroad sponsored by the milk companies.
"It will be regarded as a conflict of interest," he said, "there will be punishment for that."
The draft, he said, had been finalised after consulting with all relevant ministries and stakeholders including Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Law and Bangladesh Medical Association.
For first-time violation of the law, according to Roy, a company will be penalised Tk 0.50million with two years imprisonment. And for second offence "it will be five years rigorous imprisonment".
He said once the law is passed, a committee would be formed to clearly outline how it would be implemented. The law, however, is not clear about the punishment of doctors for violation.
"It only says proper punishment will be given," Roy said, "It will also be decided by the committee after finalising the law."
Chairperson Roy said a new law was imperative in Bangladesh as the 1984 ordinance based on the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (International BMS Code) did not include all provisions of the code.
If a country adopts a strong BMS code, it decreases the use of breast milk substitutes, he said. It happened in the Philippines where a strong regulation saw the use of infant formula milk fall from 57.5 percent in 1986 to 2.8 percent in 1988.
An analysis of the data of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics shows that baby food in the absence of breastfeeding costs a high portion of a family's financial resources –30 percent of the average household income (Tk 137,760).
Euromonitor International in 2008 projected global sale of baby food to grow by 37 percent to $ 11.5 billion to $ 42.7 billion from 2008 to 2013.
It also said almost two-thirds of this growth will come from Asia-Pacific, with China and Indonesia as the biggest contributors.
The preliminary results of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) shows 41 percent children in Bangladesh are too short for their age and 36 percent are underweight.
Experts say proper feeding practices of children under-2 are imperative to fight malnutrition in Bangladesh.
But the same survey showed only 21 percent families strictly follow the under-2 feeding practices that include start of breastfeeding within first hour of birth and exclusive continuation until six months of age.
Proper under-2 feeding practices also recommend giving homemade food on the seventh month and continuing with breastfeeding until two years of age.
Health Minister A F M Ruhal Haque said on Tuesday, ahead of World Breastfeeding Week, that they would place the law in one of the Cabinet meetings in August.
The ministry started the process three years back to replace the 1984 Breastmilk Substitute Ordinance as experts suggested a strong law to support live-saving feeding practices in Bangladesh where nearly 50 percent children are malnourished.
Dr S K Roy, Chairperson of the Bangladesh Breastfeeding Foundation that helped the ministry to draft the law, told bdnews24.com that the draft prohibited promotions of breast milk substitutes at all level. "It will strengthen the punishment for violation as well."
He said companies would not be able to advertise their products for under-2 children in any medium including televisions and newspapers.
He said the draft law was of high international standards one and said if passed, it would make companies marketing under-2 powder milk or any supplement to write clearly in big letters in the middle of the container that 'this product is not germ free and there is no alternative to breast milk.'
Roy said healthcare professionals would not be able to attend any seminars at home or abroad sponsored by the milk companies.
"It will be regarded as a conflict of interest," he said, "there will be punishment for that."
The draft, he said, had been finalised after consulting with all relevant ministries and stakeholders including Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Law and Bangladesh Medical Association.
For first-time violation of the law, according to Roy, a company will be penalised Tk 0.50million with two years imprisonment. And for second offence "it will be five years rigorous imprisonment".
He said once the law is passed, a committee would be formed to clearly outline how it would be implemented. The law, however, is not clear about the punishment of doctors for violation.
"It only says proper punishment will be given," Roy said, "It will also be decided by the committee after finalising the law."
Chairperson Roy said a new law was imperative in Bangladesh as the 1984 ordinance based on the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (International BMS Code) did not include all provisions of the code.
If a country adopts a strong BMS code, it decreases the use of breast milk substitutes, he said. It happened in the Philippines where a strong regulation saw the use of infant formula milk fall from 57.5 percent in 1986 to 2.8 percent in 1988.
An analysis of the data of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics shows that baby food in the absence of breastfeeding costs a high portion of a family's financial resources –30 percent of the average household income (Tk 137,760).
Euromonitor International in 2008 projected global sale of baby food to grow by 37 percent to $ 11.5 billion to $ 42.7 billion from 2008 to 2013.
It also said almost two-thirds of this growth will come from Asia-Pacific, with China and Indonesia as the biggest contributors.
The preliminary results of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) shows 41 percent children in Bangladesh are too short for their age and 36 percent are underweight.
Experts say proper feeding practices of children under-2 are imperative to fight malnutrition in Bangladesh.
But the same survey showed only 21 percent families strictly follow the under-2 feeding practices that include start of breastfeeding within first hour of birth and exclusive continuation until six months of age.
Proper under-2 feeding practices also recommend giving homemade food on the seventh month and continuing with breastfeeding until two years of age.
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