PHM-Exch> NGOs join forces to support WHO following US threats to withdraw funding

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Patti Rundall <prundall at babymilkaction.org>


IBFAN statement of support to WHO 11th April 2020


*NGOs join forces in support of WHO following US threats to withdraw
funding*

*IBFAN Statement of support for WHO -  April 11 2020*

The International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) and partner civil
society organisations are joining forces
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to
support the World Health Organisation in the face of  attacks on its
Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Some of the attacks
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seem to be politically motivated and orchestrated by US right-wing media
and politicians. They have been fuelled by President Trump’s thinly veiled
threats to renege on the US Government’s already (and frequently) overdue
membership
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fees.

For a member State to threaten to withdraw its funding for political
reasons at any time – but especially now during the COVID-19 crisis – is
dangerous and contravenes the duties all member States assume. The WHO
constitution
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enshrines the right to health for all and demands that members *“respect
the exclusively international character of the Director-General and the
staff and not to seek to influence them.” *It also stipulates that each
country has just one vote. This is regardless of the size of its financial
contribution, and is indexed to the size of its Gross National Product.
It’s not one dollar one vote.

IBFAN has witnessed US interference of WHO processes and the ‘Health for
All’ agenda on countless occasions since the adoption in 1981 of the
*International
Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes* – the first global consumer
protection tool designed to tackle marketing that damages the health of
babies.  The US was the only country to vote against t
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Code’s adoption and in the following years has invariably undermined
efforts to strengthen it, at the same time pushing WHO towards more
industry friendly policies.  In 2018, there was shock and widespread media
coverage
<https://babymilkaction.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c4d7655f8113c74ec9ce9fec1&id=38a01ca5ef&e=7e35300207>when
the US administration put pressure on Ecuador to drop its support for a
draft Resolution that aimed to protect breastfeeding and child health.

IBFAN is a leader in calls for WHO to adopt a sound conflict of interest
policy to safeguard its independence and resist the unjustified influence
of powerful interests, be they commercial or  political. WHO’s total annual
budget of $2.5bn – roughly equivalent to the budget of a large US hospital
– has not significantly increased
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over
three decades*. *That is a disgrace. The assessed contributions of member
States must be substantially increased if WHO is to carry out its
constitutional mandate.

WHO has a unique role as the world’s coordinating authority in setting
global health norms. We need it now more than ever to guide country
responses to COVID-19 (6) and the host of other global threats that we face
– not least global heating, new viruses, anti-microbial resistance and
non-communicable diseases.
 full background notes in online version
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[1]  WHO’s Director General from 1973-1988, Halfdan Mahler, masterminded
the adoption of the Code in 1981 in response to the evidence that 1.5
million babies were dying every year because they are not
breastfed.However, the original proposal for an international code came out
of the US Senate Hearings organized by Senator Edward Kennedy.    The issue
kick-started a social movement and the world’s longest running consumer
boycott
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of the world’s largest food company, Nestlé. A boycott that continues today.
[2] WHO and UNICEF have issued advice
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on
breastfeeding and COVID-19 that is critically important to protect babies
from harmful practices and commercial exploitation
<https://babymilkaction.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c4d7655f8113c74ec9ce9fec1&id=3170929a5b&e=7e35300207>.
In many countries mothers are separated from their babies after birth, with
as yet no evidence that the virus is transmitted through breastmilk.






For more information about IBFAN
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and Baby Milk Action's work and other news check out our Policy Blog
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COVID-19 WHO stresses the importance of breastfeeding
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we will post new information about COVID-19 on this link as it becomes
available.
Exporting countries put trade before the health of the planet and children
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<https://babymilkaction.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c4d7655f8113c74ec9ce9fec1&id=3ff927065b&e=7e35300207>IBFAN
Press Release, Nov 2019
When the SUN casts a shadow
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Our report on the human rights risks of multi-stakeholder partnerships
Lancet Commission: A Future for the World’s Children says self regulation
doesn’t work
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Useful resources on the US UK trade deal
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Making the Business Case for Nutrition Workshop
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Our response to the draft Global Action Plan (GAP) on child wasting
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Civil Society letter about COI in the UN Food systems
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How ultra-processed food took over your shopping basket
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No ‘sunset clause’ please!  NGOs call for vigilance on harmful marketing
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for more click here
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