Hello all.  I am an LC in NYC, and read an article in the NY Times yesterday
which is likely to be the one in the Australian newspaper.  This is a report
on a new study by the Indian National Family Health Survey titled "Are
W.H.O. Guidelines on Breast-Feeding Appropriate for India?".  The authors
are Ravilla Anandaiah, demographer for the Tamil Nadu directorate of family
welfare, and Minja Kim Choe, a senior fellow at the East West Center.  The
article is confusing, because of the usual concern about defining exclusive
breastfeeding, and because only mortality rates seem to be used as a measure
of health.  Has anyone seen this report and can anyone fill us in on the
background? I have not noticed a lot of posters from India, but the article
also says that UNICEF and WHO have criticized the report. Are any of these
officials on Lactnet, and can they explain some background?
I don't know if the Science Section of the New York Times is online.  The
date is August 29. The byline is United Nations.
Naturally I suspect that some of the suppliers of supplement may have funded
this study in some way.  The article also mentions AIDS: "Questions about
breastfeeding in the developing world have arisen because of AIDS...".  The
study is quoted as relating only to mortality rates, nothing to do with
AIDS.  Thus the breast and AIDS become repeatedly linked in the public mind.
I hope someone else can comment; although I often attend UN meetings as a
representative of LLLI, I was taken aback by this article.
Regards to all, and thanks,
Kate Sharp
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