New York, NY (BBN)- The United Nations and the Burmese government are pushing for safe infant feeding practices, as efforts continue to respond to the crisis of melamine-contaminated milk products in China which has driven over 54,000 children to seek medical treatment.
Given the possibility that melamine-contaminated products have spread to other countries, Ministry of Health of Burma, officially known as Myanmar, has implemented a search for contaminated milk formula in the market, initiated testing for melamine in diary products and increased surveillance for affected children via pediatricians.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have joined the Ministry in advocating that all infants should be fed exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life, a health measure that could potentially prevent the deaths of millions of children each year, a UN press statement said.
In promoting safe feeding for infants, they also noted the need to work together with the private sector regarding the Code on Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes, which includes no advertising of breast milk substitutes to families, no promotion and no free distribution of products through health care facilities, and no words or pictures idealizing artificial feed.
BBN/SI/SS/AD-02October08-1:51 AM (BST)