Infants are suffering serious bouts of diarrhoea, and in some cases dying, from infant formula provided in emergency situations, according to a coalition of international aid groups and government agencies that is calling for the promotion of breast-feeding.
“Inappropriate use in emergencies of breast milk substitutes, often received as unsolicited donations, endangers the lives of infants and young children,” according to a statement issued after a March meeting in Bali, Indonesia.
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“A lot of the time the donations are well meant. There’s a misconception that in emergency situations women’s milk dries up,” Kirsty McIvor, UNICEF Indonesia’s spokeswoman, told IRIN. She said stress can cause women’s milk to temporarily evaporate but it will return.
Giving out infant formula during emergencies is even more dangerous than in normal situations, she said, because survivors often lack access to clean water or do not have the facilities to properly boil the water. Using dirty water in the formula mix can prove fatal, causing debilitating bouts of diarrhoea, a leading cause of death in children under five.
Read more: IRIN, 9 Apr 2008
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