U.S. Objects to breastfeeding resolution - scientific consensus until Russia supports
U.S. OBJECTS TO BREASTFEEDING RESOLUTION WITH SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS, UNTIL RUSSIA SUPPORTS IT
BY PAUL LEBLANC ON 7/8/18 AT 3:55 PM
The Trump administration shocked global health officials when it pushed back on decades of scientific research that recognized breast milk as the healthiest option for babies.
At the United Nations World Health Assembly this spring officials from the United States held up a resolution designed to promote breastfeeding by attempting to remove specific language according to The New York Times.
U.S. officials sought to remove language that called on governments to “protect, promote and support breastfeeding” as well as a separate section that called for governments to restrict the promotion of products that experts agree could cause harm to children.
According to the Times, U.S. officials threatened harmful trade practices against Ecuador, which planned to introduce the initiative, unless it withdrew it. “We were astonished, appalled and also saddened,” Patti Rundall, the policy director of the British advocacy group Baby Milk Action told the Times of the U.S. actions. “What happened was tantamount to blackmail, with the U.S. holding the world hostage and trying to overturn nearly 40 years of consensus on the best way to protect infant and young child health.”
An Ecuadorian official added, “We were shocked because we didn’t understand how such a small matter like breastfeeding could provoke such a dramatic response.”
U.S. opposition to the resolution ended, however, when Russia introduced the measure. Officials from the U.S. did not challenge Russia despite threatening Ecuador for introducing the same measure. "We feel that it is wrong when a big country tries to push around some very small countries," a Russian delegate told the Times of Russia's decision to introduce the resolution.
http://www.newsweek.com/us-breastfee...health-1013327
I'm not sure what's more disturbing here - the fact that anyone rejects the notion that babies are better off with mother's milk (given that we were designed to be fed that way) or the fact that the U.S. would threaten a tiny country like Ecuador for introducing it and Russia would have to stand up for them.