Archive site - new site at www.babymilkaction.org

 An analysis of the content of food industry pledges on food marketing to children Corinna Hawkes1,* and Jennifer L Harris  Public Health Nutrition

http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FPHN%2FS1368980011000607a.pdf&code=956f592c88e28fb20efbe7a12d05dd39

Left wanting more: a survey of food companies policies on food marketing to children 2009

www.consumersinternational.org/news-and-media/publications/left-wanting-more-a-survey-of-food-companies-policies-on-marketing-to-children 

Consumers International/ IBFAN - Intervention by Lida Lhotska

Chairperson, Director General, honorable delegates,

We appreciate the opportunity to address the 64th WHA on behalf of Consumers International, global federation of consumers worldwide and an IBFAN founding member.

We welcome WHO’s objective of raising the profile of NCDs. We hope that the summit in September will empower member states to take action to support consumers in eating a healthy diet, including: protection from harmful food marketing, reformulation of foods, improving consumer information and removing the obstacles to breastfeeding.

It is of the utmost importance that nutritional standards and definitions used in policies to improve consumer diets are developed independently of any conflict of interest. Similarly the monitoring of such policies must be government-led and independent of companies, who have disproportionate power compared to WHO and many Member States. This is particularly true in the case of food marketing. Some of us have years of experience with multi-stakeholder initiatives. We have seen how health priorities are distorted when they have to be agreed by the for-profit sector. Goal posts shift towards more subtle and pervasive forms of marketing such as sponsorship – all designed to build trust and promote slightly ”better for you” junk foods. It is essential that while action is stepped up to address NCDs, care is taken to increase consumer protection and avoid giving the for-profit sector unprecedented opportunities to influence policies. The effect of insufficient vigilance will be felt most keenly in food-related NCDs - where Member States urgently need encouragement to take effective legislative action to control harmful food marketing.

We do not object to consultations with companies. We are, however, concerned with initiatives that could allow corporations to fund, guide, shape and identify WHO policies and priorities. The WHO must be able to defend the case for public health – regardless of the impact it might have on company profits - as it did recently during an EU Parliament debate health claims.

Finally, we strongly urge that the critically important role of marketing controls and the protection of breastfeeding and optimal complementary feeding is recognized as an integral component of WHO’s NCD strategy

. Thank you .

Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases 

Statement by Prof Lisa Bero of the Cochrane Collaboration

The Cochrane Collaboration is an international organisation that helps health care providers, policy makers, patients and their advocates make well informed decisions about human health care by preparing updating and promoting the accessibility of systematic reviews. The Cochrane Collaboration commends WHO on drafting a resolution relating to the prevention and control of NCDs. However we have a number of concerns. The Cochrane Collaboration urges WHO to use systematic reviews conducted by independent organisations to inform policy about the prevention, diagnosis and and treatment of NCDs. The evidence on interventions to reduce obesity and alcohol and tobacco consumption as well treating the resulting health problems must be critically evaluated and free of commercial bias. This is important for example because numerous studies have shown that clinical trials of pharmacological treatments for diabetes, hypertension and cardio-vascular disease that are sponsored by a single drug company have results that favour the sponsors product even when controlling for the quality of the studies. Therefore systematic reviews that form the basis for treatment guidelines must carefully evaluate studies of pharmacological therapy for all relevant risk of bias. As action plans and guidance for the prevention and control of NCDs are developed designed by WHO they must be informed by the best available and unbiased evidence. Thank you.