U.S. Opposition to Breast-Feeding Resolution Stuns World Health Officials

warmhappycat:

giandujakiss:

A resolution to encourage breast-feeding
was expected to be approved quickly and easily by the hundreds of
government delegates who gathered this spring in Geneva for the United
Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly.

Based
on decades of research, the resolution says that mother’s milk is
healthiest for children and countries should strive to limit the
inaccurate or misleading marketing of breast milk substitutes.

Then the United States delegation, embracing the interests of infant formula manufacturers, upended the deliberations.

American officials sought to water down the resolution by removing
language that called on governments to “protect, promote and support
breast-feeding” and another passage that called on policymakers to
restrict the promotion of food products that many experts say can have
deleterious effects on young children.

When that failed, they turned to
threats, according to diplomats and government officials who took part
in the discussions. Ecuador, which had planned to introduce the measure,
was the first to find itself in the cross hairs.

The
Americans were blunt: If Ecuador refused to drop the resolution,
Washington would unleash punishing trade measures and withdraw crucial
military aid. The Ecuadorean government quickly acquiesced.

…

In the end, the Americans’ efforts were mostly unsuccessful. It was the
Russians who ultimately stepped in to introduce the measure — and the
Americans did not threaten them.

Holy shit.

Wtf

FUCK NESTLE.

U.S. Opposition to Breast-Feeding Resolution Stuns World Health Officials