Hello all,
A few weeks ago I was on the world wide web and came across the Canadian
Pediatrics’ Society webpage regarding their annual conference. Out of
curiosity I checked to see who the exhibitors/sponsors were. I was
disappointed to find that Abbot Nutrition, Mead Johnson and Wyeth are listed
as sponsors of the event, and all three companies, along with Nestlé, will be
exhibitors at the event. I notified INFACT Canada
http://www.infactcanada.ca/ who has written a response and is asking
anyone who supports breastfeeding to either write your own e-mail or copy
and sign below their letter and e-mail it to Marie Adèle Davis, Executive
Director [log in to unmask] and Wendy Eligh, Annual Conference Manager
[log in to unmask]
Please see below. Maybe if we can get support from around the world
something can be done to stop this. Thank you. Camilla
May 26, 2009
Canadian Pediatric Society allies with formula companies
The upcoming CPS annual conference is being sponsored in part by some of
the world’s biggest formula companies. Abbot Nutrition, Mead Johnson and
Wyeth are listed as sponsors of the event, and all three companies, along with
Nestlé, will be exhibitors at the event.
These four companies have been aggressively marketing infant formula for
decades, and have actively undermined child health. For a group claiming to
be Canada’s foremost child health organization to enter into a relationship with
them is highly inappropriate. Clearly this sponsorship compromises the CPS’s
ability to promote breastfeeding and advance the health of children.
According to its own Code of Ethics, the CPS desires to “put the needs of
children above all else.” It is difficult to see how forming partnerships with
formula companies serves the needs of children. On the other hand, the
formula companies will benefit from the PR of being allied with pediatricians,
and the CPS will receive financial support to stage its conference. It is
children that will lose out.
As long as Canada’s health organizations are not fully committed to supporting
breastfeeding, infant health in this country will remain far from optimal. Please
write to the CPS and ask them to reconsider their relationship with the formula
companies. Write your own letter or copy INFACT Canada’s below.
Direct your letters to:
Marie Adèle Davis, Executive Director [log in to unmask]
Wendy Eligh, Annual Conference Manager [log in to unmask]
******
Marie Adèle Davis and Wendy Eligh
Executive Director
Canadian Pediatric Society
2305 St. Laurent Blvd.
Ottawa, ON K1G 4J8
Dear Ms. Davis and Ms. Eligh
It has come to our attention that the upcoming CPS annual conference is
accepting sponsorship from Abbot Nutrition, Mead Johnson and Wyeth. Along
with Nestlé Nutrition, all three companies are also listed as exhibitors. As an
organization that is dedicated to advocating for the health needs of children, I
would ask that you reconsider the appropriateness of allowing these
companies to promote themselves at your conference.
Abbott, Nestlé, Mead Johnson and Wyeth are four of the biggest companies in
the infant formula industry. For years the industry and these companies
specifically, have been marketing their products in violation of international
guidelines. Their aggressive promotion of infant formula has undermined
breastfeeding rates in Canada and abroad. They have refused to abide by the
terms of the World Health Organization’s International Code of Marketing of
Breastmilk Substitutes, a measure endorsed by the international community
and UNICEF to protect breastfeeding and reduce infant and young child
mortality and morbidity.
These companies’ marketing malpractice is ongoing. Nestlé has just launched a
formula brand in Canada that the company says can provide infants with the
same protection against disease as breastmilk. There is no scientific evidence
to support this claim, and yet massive advertising campaigns have been
launched to convince Canadian mothers that Nestlé’s formula contains the
same vital ingredients as breastmilk.
That the CPS forms partnerships with these companies even while they are
actively engaged in undermining breastfeeding does not further the society’s
goal of improving child health. Instead, it lends credibility to dishonest
companies and presents a blatant conflict of interest to Canadian
pediatricians. The CPS cannot accept sponsorship from formula companies on
one hand and then expect to effectively promote breastfeeding on the other.
The CPS Code of Ethics says that the society has always worked to “put the
needs of children above all else.” Allowing these companies to participate in
your conference serves the needs of the infant formula industry, not the
needs of children.
We respectfully request that the CPS not form any partnerships with formula
companies and suggest that the CPS familiarize itself with its own obligations
under the Code, specifically WHA Resolution 49.15 which states “financial
support for professionals working in infant and young child health [should] not
create conflicts of interest.”
I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
***********************************************
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