Dear Pam, I finally got through with the following fax this morning.  The
number that I was able to use was 263-472-9154.  I hope that this will add
to the other letters and faxes that the government has received.

Judy

Dr. Timothy Stamps
Minister of Health and Child Welfare
P O Box CY 1122
CAUSEWAY
Harare,  Zimbabwe

Dear Sir:

As you are probably aware, breastfeeding promotion institutions, health
professional and other interest groups of the Americas and Europe have
become deeply concerned by
recent developments in governmental policies on breastfeeding in Zimbabwe.

We have read that  the Zimbabwean Government has decided to step back from
previously reached agreements, and has withdrawn its support to the laws
that would have made breastfeeding promotion a reality, especially under
difficult circumstances.

As an anthropologist and lactation consultant who has been working for many
years  to promote breastfeeding, I am one of  the  many professionals
deeply concerned by this information.

What we have heard is that infant food manufacturers have successfully
lobbied your representatives to  temporarily suspend a new regulation
compelling them to label their products with relevant ingredients  and
specific expiry dates as of the beginning of May.

As you know, this is a very fundamental requirement of all manufacturers of
artificial food products,  honored by the infant food manufacturers in most
countries of the world.  Even in Honduras, where I live, with no infant
food marketing code, all infant foods are required to  have their
ingredients labeled in the local language, in our case, Spanish.

From the reports we have received, it seems that the decision has been to
postpone implementation until after the HIV consultation in Geneva and the
coming World Health Assembly.

It is a sad commentary on the power of these international companies to
know that you, as a signer of the Innocenti Declaration, feel that you must
postpone implementation of the proposed regulations in this manner.  As you
know,  minimum regulations such as a ban on advertising and promotion to
the public of infant foods are basic components of the Code. It is doubtful
that the WHA would abandon this fundamental position, ratified just two
years ago in the last WHA.  Such actions would contradict  the spirit of
WHO and UNICEF Breastfeeding Policies, the Innocenti Declaration, which you
have signed, and the aims of the BFH Initiative.

I, along with many other professionals working in breastfeeding promotion,
protection and support,  sincerely hope that Zimbabwe, unlike some other
governments, will not cave into the pressure of the companies because of
concerns about HIV that have been tremendously distorted by the
transnationals.

Certainly, your representatives must be aware that the use of formula
during any kind of infection, or even for nutrition purposes, provides a
sense of security that is not based in reality.    We all know that this
"sense of security" puts the children who are deprived of their mothers'
milk at a higher risk of malnutrition, infection and death.

It is very troubling to continually encounter the readiness to use
commercial, expensive, often imported formulas, always and only formula,
before ever considering healthier and more ecological alternatives such as
heat-treated mothers' milk, the use of household-based modified milks or
other community provided and implemented alternatives.

I  do hope that both policy makers and government officials reconsider
their decision, and realize how damaging such a permissive policy
initiative can be, as well as what a blow it is for the mothers of
Zimbabwe, Africa and the world, and for you and your colleagues  who have
worked so hard  for so many years in the promotion of  breastfeeding.


Sincerely yours,


Judy Canahuati, MPhil, IBCLC



Judy Canahuati, MPhil, IBCLC
PO Box #512
San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Telephone: +504-550-9737
Fax:       +504-550-7482
E-mail:    [log in to unmask]

"The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating.
The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them
changes both the maker and the destination."  John Schaar