Archive site - new site at www.babymilkaction.org

Breastfeeding saves lives. Millions of people who would have died during their fist year had they been fed on formula are alive today because they were breastfed. Many more lives could be saved if breastfeeding rates improved. A paper was prepared for the World Breastfeeding Conference calculating how much it would cost governments and donors to support all mothers to breastfeed optimally.

It is said that breastfeeding is free because breastmilk is produced naturally without manufacturing and transport costs and does not require bottles or sterilising equipment to deliver. The best food in the best packaging. 

According to the WHO/Lancet Child Survival Series, improving breastfeeding rates could prevent 13% of under-5 deaths in the 42 countries where most of these occur. That is, improved breastfeeding (not even universal breastfeeding) could save 1.3 million lives every year as well as reduce illness and the associated health care costs, as well the cost in human suffering.Yet the goal of improving breastfeeding rates seems to lag behind the goals of providing vaccinations, safe water and adequate sanitation, which even combined would save fewer lives than breastfeeding. Is it because breastfeeding is "free" that it is undervalued?

Or is it the fact that baby milk companies offer employment and tax income to governments that sees them being subsidised, as in Ireland at present? (See page 19).

BPNI presented a discussion paper called Scaling Up Breastfeeding/Infant and Young Child Feeding Interventions: What will it Cost? This calculated the budget to enable 100% of mothers and babies to breastfeed in the first hour after birth and then optimally, covering all countries for all births in a 5-year period. The total cost of protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding US$ 4 billion, or about 20% of the cost of staging the Olympic Games. If provision was made to pay all mothers below the poverty line US$ 2/day for 6 months, this would add nearly US$ 52 billion to the five-year budget. "The cost of not acting is measured in needless suffering and death, lost workdays caring for children and health care costs - while companies count their profits and encourage governments to think of investment and tax."

Click here to download the discussion paper.

Next page

Previous page