Doctors promoting formula milk at expense of babies’ lives

Deprivation of mother’s milk leading to sharp rise in underweight and stunted infants.

ISLAMABAD:

Often referred to as saviours, medical practitioners are respected the world over, but this image is often shattered by people whose malpractices put the lives of their patients at risk.

Going against what they are taught at medical and nursing colleges, a majority of doctors and nurses recommend formula milk brands in return for a commission from the companies, instead of promoting breastfeeding.

Due to lack of information, most parents go for formula milk simply because the doctor recommended it and Sabeen, a resident of Rawat, is no different. Worried about her five-month-old baby’s acute diarrhoea, she had brought him to the Children Hospital at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) for a check-up.

“I don’t know why my baby is suffering from diarrhoea and getting weaker every day because I only give him formula milk as recommended by the doctor,” she said, while comforting her crying baby. She added that due to her inability to afford formula milk, a pack of which costs Rs375 to Rs555 for local and foreign brands respectively, she mixes excess water in the powdered formula, decreasing the quantity of milk.

Most mothers aware of early initiation of breastfeeding

She seemed unaware of the fact that the water in the formula milk given t her baby could have caused diarrhoea.

Unethical promotion of formula milk and lack of awareness in the country have resulted in a sharp rise in the number of malnourished, underweight and stunted infants because it deprives them of the most nutritious diet there could be, mother’s milk.

According to The Pakistan Demographic Health Survey 2012-13, there has been an increase of 0.6 per cent in the exclusive breastfeeding rate, while the rate of bottle-fed babies has risen by 8.9 per cent since 2006.

BREASTFEEDING PRACTICES up to the age of six months

Recently, a report titled, “Breastfeeding: A roadmap to promotion and protection,” commissioned by Save the Children revealed that 84% of all mothers interviewed for the study were advised to give formula milk by health care providers.

“It’s unfortunate that despite a law that promotes breastfeeding, the practice goes unpunished and doctors continue to play with the lives of infants and get paid for it due to the absence of a board to address the issue at the federal level and sub-committees at the provincial level,” said Wing Director Dr Baseer Achakzai, who works under the Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination Nutrition. “Once the board and committees are constituted, practitioners can be jailed for six months, fined Rs.0.5 million and have their licenses cancelled.”

Mothers advised use formula milk for infanst under six months of age

Director of Health Awareness Society, Dr Samia Babar said, “Usually the moment a baby is born, nurses bottle-feed them, even before the parents get to see them. So when the mother tries to breastfeed the infant, they are unable to make the switch.”

Unaware that the Breastfeeding Ordinance 2002 discourages the sale of formula milk, a salesman at Sector F-11’s leading  pharmacy, said they sell around 10-15 packs a day. “I don’t know about the law. I just see the doctor’s prescription and give customers what they come for,” said Bashir, not looking too concerned. His responsibility, after all, is to tend to his customers who can easily get the same product from one of the hundreds of pharmacies and shops.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2013.