Big news!!
The Israeli parliament ( Knesset) voted last week on a bill which would
prohibit marketing artificial milk in hospitals, well-baby clinics, etc. It
was based on the WHO code.
This bill was proposed by Knesset member Tamar Gozansky, who herself did not
breastfeed because the hospitals and well-baby clinics failed to give her
the correct information, but is very much in favor of taking the ABM
companies to task for their aggressive activity here. She is a member of
the communist party therefore loves combating big business, and fighting for
the little people ( and you can't get much littler than babies). She has
been fighting the cigarette companies for years, nad told me once that there
are scarey similarities in marketing techniques, as well as ways of getting
around the system.
We were all very busy writing letters to all members of the Knesset before
the vote.
Now, one of the local papers wrote about the vote, saying that this is a
very strange bill to come up for vote. It is as always a female
journalist, and I would guess that she did to breastfeed and is bitter:
This is from the week-end edition of Haaretz, which is the Israeli version
of the New York Times:
The words in quotes are Ms Gozansky's.
Milking new mothers
As it happens, in the same week that MK Tamar Gozansky (Hadash) was chosen
the Knesset's most socially aware member, she sponsored a strange bill.
According to the bill, which passed its preliminary reading last week,
companies that manufacture baby food would be barred from advertising their
products in maternity wards and Tipat Halav baby clinics, and from
distributing samples in those places. The bill would also compel the
companies to state on the products that "mother's milk is the best food for
infants, so before deciding to use this product as food or as a food
supplement, consult your physician."
Gozansky doesn't see what's so strange about her idea. "There is no
substitute for mother's milk," she says.
You suggest that the milk substitutes are at least as toxic as cigarettes.
"Absolutely not. Cigarettes are a harmful product but mother's milk is
better than the other products and has no substitute."
The legislation adversely affects mothers who don't want to or can't
breast-feed.
"These companies grab the women in a moment of weakness and that is what we
are out to prevent. Why should a woman who comes out of the maternity ward
have to find a bottle on her bed?"
Give women a little credit - the decision on this subject is a very private
and intimate one, and it's not influenced by a bottle on the bed.
"Advertising doesn't work via intellectual control. Women should take an
interest in breast-feeding, too. We can't allow these companies to run wild.
We want to create an atmosphere that favors breast-feeding."
What's next? Forcing women to eat tofu and play classical music for their
babies?
"There is no coercion involved here. Infants have no opinion and they can't
say what's good for them. We want to give the Health Ministry a tool so it
can awake from its lengthy slumber and insist on truthful advertising. These
products are not a substitute for milk because there is no substitute for
mother's milk." (Sara Leibovich-Dar)
Here is the link for those who want to read:
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml;$sessionid$0SKE3UIAACM2R
LAUAUCSF3VMCQCQMI5G?itemNo=53929&contrassID=2&subContrassID=14&sbSubContrass
ID=0&listSrc=Y
Oh well, one step forward, two back. We have a long way to go, but slowly,
we are getting things done!!
Esther Grunis, IBCLC
Lis Maternity Hospital
Tel Aviv, Israel
mailto:[log in to unmask]
Breastfeeding Medical Center
Moshav Udim
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