Dear Lactneters:
Happy New Year!! (Our Chinese New Year will come on Feb 6. So, I still have
time to say this to my friends.)
I had been to Bangkok for the Global Forum last Dec and met friends from the
Lactnet group. It's so inspiring. And now I also know what we have lost
being not a member of the United Nation. Few people have real idea about the
marketing code.The Department of Health of our government wants to modified
the criterias of BFHI because of our health care level is 10 years behind
the USA, so our criterias should be also 10 years behind yours!!! I don't
think that they have real idea of what BFHI is. I could only give them the
information I got from WABA which is only an NGO. "Breastfeeding and
Politics". I do recognize that breastfeeding has a close connection with
politics in Taiwan. But, being not a memeber of UN doesn't mean that our
people have to loose what they should have.
In last Nov, there was a estabilishment of "Children's nutrition consueling
center" in Taiwan. It was held by seven nutritional experts of Taiwan.I was
very interested because the theme of their first year was "Promoting
breastfeeding". And yesterday, a marketing manager of Abbott company came to
visit me. She said she knew that I was promoting breastfeeding and I had a
close relationship with LLLI Taiwan. She asked that why our works in
promoting brestfeeding was not well known by our people, why our effort was
so poor. :( She said that she would be glad to help us to distribute any
information we had. I said that I and members from LLLI I thought won't like
to have any connection with the formula company because our interest were so
conflicting. But she insisted that I should give her the opportunity. So I
give her a information sheet about the marketing code. Then she skip away
this issue. But what made me astonished came. She said that her company
very supported the breastfeeding. And they were the fundation of the
"Children's nutrition consueling center". I was shocked!!! Because in the
press I read about the center said nothing about the company. I (and most of
the people)though it should be a not-profit institute. They had a mail box
and people was welcomed to write to them. They would write the "correct"
answers to any questions. The manager also said that her company was so
admirable that they paid for such a good free service. These was already an
"Institute of Pediatric Nutrition" in USA. And they had done a lot of
service.???......( I don't know what to say.) Then I remember the story
written by Diane Wiessinger. The story about the influence from USA.Forty
years ago, more the 90% of our babies were breastfed. After years of
struggle and effor to become more industrialized, more USA-like, we have
only 5% exclusive breastfeeding rate at one month now. Whey, Abbott and Mead
Johnson are the three biggest infant companies in Taiwan. We have only
received many advertisement about infant feeding from these companies and
very few correct breastfeeding information.Just because we are not a member
of UN, so our people shouldn't know what's happening outside? I feel so
sorry for my both girl(they were breastfed for only one month). And I feel
so sorry for our future generation. I do try hard, but sometimes I feel just
like I am throwing a fine needle into the big ocean.
But through the WABA,JHL, Lacnet and other web sites, I do find some help. I
had even contacted with Dr. Savage King for the first breastfeeding training
course in Taiwan.
I had translated her book"Helping mother breastfeeding" last year. Now I am
busy translating the training material. Hopefully, I may invite Gay Palmer
to Taiwan as the first director of the training course. And there are more
people become awaring of the necessity of breastfeeding for the infants and
mothers.
Thanks for all your help during these time that make me dare to dream the
impossible dream.
Chen Chao-Huei, M.D. <[log in to unmask]>
Department of Pediatrics. Taichung Veterans General Hospital
Taichung 407, Taiwan, Fax 886-4-3591498,
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