I'm passing along a message from Ines Fernandez, breastfeeding activist in
the Philippines. Innes wrote to tell us of the death of Dr. Natividad
Clavano. You may know of Dr. Clavano from IBFAN's cartoon of a doctor
ripping a formula poster off a hospital wall. Possibly you've seen her in
UNICEF's 1985 film BREASTFEEDING REDISCOVERED. She was one of the early
heroines of the global breastfeeding movement. Ines's tribute gives an idea
of Dr. Clavano's dedication and of the risks of standing up on behalf of
babies and mothers in a developing country...indeed, in ANY country.

***
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 2:18 PM
Subject: please pass to our worldwide network : Philippines breastfeeding
doctor-warrior-icon died today at Makati Medical Center

Dear Friends in the breastfeeding world,
 
Dr. Nativid Relucio-Clavano died today October 04 at the Makati Medical
Center in metroManila. We will miss our breastfeeding doctor-warrior who
bravely testified against milk companies insidious marketing that caused
bottlefeeding menace. She talked openly about how Nestle in a meeting in
Geneva tried to bribed her in exchange for dropping her remarkable study.
She conducted an intensive research studies on breastfeeding and how it save
thousands of babies' lives. It also exposed the consequences of
bottlefeeding and diarrhea in the 70's and 80's. It was a global reference.
She continued to pursue another thorough study on complementary feeding. She
was one of the few brave woman-doctor who despite her lingering illness gave
breastfeeding trainings anywhere and anytime especially last year. On media
interviews, she dared to tell the public about milk companies advertising
lies, she is one of few doctors unafraid of the multinational giants. 
 
She awaited for the Philippine Supreme Court long standing (2 years) final
verdict on the revised Implementing Rules and Regulation of our Milk Code
law. The  multinational milk-pharmaceutical  companies composed of Mead
Johnson, Wyeth, Abbott-Ross, Glaxo-Smithkline, Novartis etc. formed an NGO
called PHAP-Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association of the Philippines who
sued the Department of Health officials for passing a strong rules covering
a ban on advertisement on babyfood for babies below 2 years old etc.  
 
Dra. Naty R. Clavano could no longer wait for it. She bid the world goodbye.
She is an inspiration for us, a moving spirit behind our babyfood issue
struggles. 
 
In prayer and sadness, Innes
in behalf of the save the babies coalition                     
***

Annelies Allain, in her 1989 history of IBFAN's campaign, quoted Dr. Clavano
on the danger of letting the baby food companies get too much influence in
the health care system. "...there was the relationship between health
workers and mothers, and the far-too-cosy relationship between health
workers and the industry. As Filipino paediatrician Dr Natividad Clavano
said, 'we allowed the companies to touch the lives of our babies, not
because we did not care, but because we did not realize the consequences of
granting such a privilege'."
http://www.dhf.uu.se/pdffiler/89_2.pdf

Andy Chetley, writing in 1986 about the global struggle to put a muzzle on
the marketing of infant foods, praises Dr. Clavano's bravery. "Throughout
the infant feeding campaign, the emotional response has led to moments of
great courage amongst individuals and groups. It took courage for Dr.
Natividad Clavano to tear down the bottle feeding posters in her hospital in
the Philippines and replace them with breast feeding posters in the face of
opposition from some of her colleagues, the infant food industry and a
laissez-faire government. It took courage for a group of breast feeding
mothers to take their babies into a leading London department store in
protest over a woman having been removed from its restaurant for quietly
breast feeding her baby while she herself ate lunch. It took courage for the
Indian Academy of Paediatrics to turn down offers of funding from the
pharmaceutical and infant food companies to avoid any possible conflict of
interest. These were acts that went against the dominant flow of society.
They were acts of defiance, moments of catalytic change."
http://www.dhf.uu.se/ifda/readerdocs/pdf/doss_52.pdf

Dr. Clavano showed us what "ethical" means in the context of infant and
young child feeding. Let's follow her lead.

Chris

Chris Mulford, RN, IBCLC
LLL Leader Reserve
Newly retired from WIC Bf Initiative, South Jersey, USA 
Chair, Workplace Bf Support Committee, USBC 
Co-coordinator, Women & Work Task Force, WABA
 
 

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