Dear lactnetters -
I am speaking as an employee of the Mothers' Milk Bank at Austin, and not
as a representative of HMBANA at the moment. I will leave that for Mary
Rose Tully.
Barbara Wilson-Clay and I have spoken, and we are both extremely upset
about this USDA press release. That's why she (and I) jumped on this so fast.
But for the moment we are asking you to hold off on responding to the ugly
press release specifically, and NOT TO forward it further. We haven't seen
it pop up anywhere publicly, including on USDA's website. It's possible
that they haven't yet sent it, and if they haven't, we don't need to spread
it for them. Maybe we will change their minds.
I do understand, from several sources, that the policy change -- about no
longer using WIC funds -- has either been decided or is going very much
against milk banks. In either case, it is absolutely appropriate to point
out to USDA what shame it would be for a poor sick baby not to have access
to donor milk if needed. It is even better to send letters if they don't
yet have this deal inked, because it will make them think harder about it.
So go ahead and send your letters if you are so inclined, but here are the
things that would be good to cover -
-- We are glad of WIC's long-standing commitment to breastfeeding, which
everyone knows is the best food for infants. And further, that without
healthy women breastfeeding healthy babies, there would be no donors for
milk banks.
-- But it's disappointing that they are considering no
longer using WIC funds for donor milk. (Or alternatively, that we hope
there's no truth to rumor that they're considering this policy change.)
-- For those outpatient WIC clients that have needed donor milk, they have
probably exhausted all other possible food sources and found none that the
infant would tolerate
-- Those types of special-needs infants (those with feeding intolerance,
for example) will continue to exist, regardless of WIC's reluctance to pay
for donor milk as a treatment
-- There have been historically few cases of WIC clients using donor milk
because there are not that many providers -- only six donor milk banks in
the US
-- For many families, the $2.50 per ounce milk processing fee is simply out of
reach. And it's not reasonable to expect that fee to go down, since it
covers only a fraction of a milk bank's costs
-- milk banks have a long history and a record of safety of providing
pasteurized, screened donor human milk
-- there have been no documented cases of illness traceable to a milk bank
since 1911
-- milk banks have been following strict guidelines regarding screening of
donor mothers and pasteurization of milk since 1990. This is not the only
instance of a medical industry self-regulating -- JCAHO comes to mind.
-- human milk is vastly nutritionally superior to the alternative
-- especially for premature and ill babies, who make up the
vast majority of milk bank clients, artificial formula brings higher
risk of disease and death
I am reprinting the addresses to which to send letters below. Letters
should go to Congress and federal regulators, since USDA/WIC are federal
programs.
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman
US Department of Agriculture
14th Street and Independence Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20250
202/720-2791
and
Under Secretary Shirley Watkins
Food Nutrition and Consumer Services
US Department of Agriculture
Alexandria, VA 22302
703/305-2286
The Honorable Bill Clinton
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20500
The Honorable Al Gore
Vice-President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20500
(Insert your congressional delegation here)
Thanks for your help, and sorry for any confusion.
Andrea Morgan
Executive Director
Mothers' Milk Bank at Austin
***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
