Let’s Understand the International Code of Marketing for Breastmilk Substitutes
Have you ever received “gifts” in the form of baby formula milk or a bottle of post-natal nipples from the hospital where the mother gave birth? Have you ever been called by a telemarketing officer from a baby formula company? Or have you ever seen a Mother and Child Health book, a scale, or a hospital playground that includes a distinctive decoration and logo for a particular brand of baby formula? If the mother answers YES. Did you know that the above matters are a way of the World Health Organization (WHO) Code of Marketing for Replacement of Breastmilk (ASI), in which infant formula is included in one of the products of breastmilk substitutes (PASI).
Some time ago, an online mass media discussed the problem of infant marketing formulas in Indonesia. One of them discusses the “Sins” of the baby ethical marketing formula. The formula for promoting, marketing and circulating babies is aggressive and violates the Code of Ethics reducing public understanding of the benefits of breastfeeding and breastfeeding. The perception that breast milk and breastfeeding are no longer the main choices for meeting the baby’s intake.