Thank you, Nikki and Janice for bringing a very timely issue to our attention.

FTSE4Good is a socially responsible investment (SRI) index provider.  They have developed a very strict set of criteria for the marketing of breastmilk substitutes, based entirely on the WHO Code.

http://www.ftse.com/ftse4good/Breast_milk_substitute_criteria.pdf

I am bringing this to the attention of the perinatal leadership at my hospital and hope others will do the same.  There is a strong move by socially conscious individuals and religious organizations to use this SRI index as a guide for investments, and divestment.  The financial impact could be phenomenal.

Interestingly, a Formula Rep has been repeatedly requesting permission to give a staff inservice on breastfeeding to discuss the WHO Code.  

One part of the criteria reads: "Companies operating in the USA and Canada are to comply with the Code in its entirety ... by end 2004."  Could this by why one particular company is suddenly interested in looking compliant?

Jeanne Mitchell, RN, IBCLC
Austin, TX


             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html