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THE
recent Supreme Court (SC) decision to lift the temporary
restraining order on the Revised Implementing Rules and
Regulations (RIRR) of the National Milk Code (EO 51) has
been deemed a “significant victory for infant,
young-child and maternal health in the Philippines” by
one of the milk code’s strongest backer, the United
Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).
Unicef
explained its initial reaction to last week’ ruling,
initially billed as a “Round One victory” for the
powerful industry group Pharmaceutical and Health-Care
Association of the Philippines, which sued the Health
department over the RIRR.
With
this judgment, said Unicef, “infant-formula
manufacturers will be prevented from making false or
exaggerated health claims about their products, and all
advertising and marketing practices will be strictly
regulated by a vastly strengthened Interagency Committee
that monitors the Milk Code.” The ruling also upholds
the Department of Health’s authority to regulate
advertising of all products covered by the International
Code on the Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, said
Unicef.
While
striking down a provision imposing an absolute ban on
advertising of infant formula, the Supreme Court upheld
Section 16 of the RIRR, which states that, “All health
and nutrition claims for products within the scope of
this Code are absolutely prohibited.” This signals an
end to the unethical advertising claims that infant
formulas increase intelligence—a strategy that has been
particularly successful in undermining efforts to
promote breast-feeding.
In
addition, promotional tactics such as donation of
products, promotions and marketing in the guise of
seminars for health workers, giving of gifts to health
workers, use of health-care facilities for promotions,
etc. will be banned.
In
addition, all infant-formula labeling will have to
comply with stringent new guidelines intended to help
parents understand that powdered- milk substitutes for
breast milk are not sterile and can contain “pathogenic
microorganisms.”
Now,
said Unicef, the crucial work of educating families and
communities about the superior benefits of
breast-feeding can proceed without having to compete
with enticing billion-peso marketing schemes based on
false health claims.
In its
reaction statement, the UN agency acknowledged the
“unwavering efforts of a broad alliance of actors in the
Philippines and abroad—including the Department of
Health, the Philippine Congress, the World Health
Organization, Arugaan, Children for Breast-feeding and
other breast-feeding advocates—who have helped inform
the public about this vital public-health issue.”
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. It is funded entirely by the voluntary
contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations
and governments. |
