Health-and-Nutrition/C2/Indian-Law-to-Protect-Breastfeeding/English-timed

Time	Narration
00:00	Welcome to the spoken tutorial on the Indian law to protect breastfeeding.
00:06	In this tutorial, we will learn about:
00:09	Infant milk substitutes or IMS.
00:13	The IMS Act.
00:16	Let us first understand what are infant milk substitutes?
00:23	Infant milk substitutes are also called IMS.
00:29	IMS are baby foods presented as a partial
00:33	or total replacement for breast milk.
00:39	They include all commercial baby foods for infants upto 2 years old.
00:48	In this tutorial, we will refer to IMS as commercial baby foods or baby foods.
00:58	Why do people use commercial baby foods?
01:03	There are 5 major reasons for the popular use of commercial baby foods.
01:11	The first reason is the myth that compares commercial baby foods to breast milk.
01:20	It is believed that they are as good as breast milk.
01:26	They can substitute breastfeeding completely.
01:31	Some uninformed people may believe them to be better than breast milk.
01:40	This myth is popular because their harms are not known or seen easily.
01:48	People are not guided about their harmful effects properly.
01:54	Also, the marketing techniques portray them to be equivalent to breastmilk.
02:02	Even many doctors or health care workers are not aware of their harmful effects.
02:10	They do not know the losses caused by not breastfeeding.
02:17	Hence, commercial baby foods are not considered dangerous by most people.
02:25	There is a general social acceptance of commercial baby foods.
02:32	This applies to feeding bottles and artificial nipples as well.
02:39	No commercial baby food can be equivalent to breastfeeding.
02:46	They may imitate the common constituents of breast milk.
02:52	Common constituents include proteins, calories or fats.
02:59	However, they cannot have the numerous constituents of breast milk.
03:06	Also, breast milk varies for each mother and her baby.
03:13	Commercial baby foods do not have this quality.
03:18	They are the same for all mothers and babies.
03:24	They also do not have the psycho-emotional benefits of breastfeeding.
03:31	They are very well known to cause undernutrition or obesity.
03:38	They also cause infectious and noninfectious diseases.
03:44	These diseases include cardiovascular problems
03:48	and allergies.
03:51	Their worst effect is that they make breastfeeding seem unimportant for babies.
03:59	They stop people from seeing that breastfeeding is free and the best.
04:08	The 2nd reason for using baby foods is that they seem like an easy shortcut.
04:16	Breastfeeding is a skill.
04:19	It takes time and effort to learn or assist the proper breastfeeding technique.
04:28	There could be problems while learning how to breastfeed.
04:34	Mother needs the family’s support to breastfeed at home.
04:40	She also needs society's support to breastfeed outside home or at work.
04:49	Therefore, commercial baby foods are considered as convenient alternatives.
04:57	Let’s discuss the third reason for the use of commercial baby foods now.
05:04	Not well informed health care workers use baby foods as an easy solution.
05:12	They may not know how to help mothers to breastfeed properly.
05:18	So, in a problematic situation, they recommend commercial baby foods by default.
05:27	The 4th reason for using baby foods is their heavy promotion by manufacturers.
05:36	Scientific words and rewards are used to convince people to buy baby foods.
05:44	They are used to convince health care workers to prescribe baby foods easily.
05:52	The 5th reason for using baby foods is the emotional weakness of new mothers.
06:01	Their worries increase during their own problems.
06:06	They also increase during disasters such as floods or the COVID-19 crisis.
06:16	They lose confidence and feel that breast milk won’t be enough for their baby.
06:23	They start believing the wrong advice on the usefulness of baby foods.
06:31	Then they start using commercial baby foods.
06:37	Now let’s discuss the history of commercial baby foods promotion briefly.
06:45	Since its invention, the promotion has made breastfeeding look unimportant.
06:53	Their companies directly target pregnant or lactating women and health workers.
07:02	They try to promote baby foods through nutrition or breastfeeding workshops.
07:09	They do free product distribution during emergencies like floods or earthquakes.
07:19	They also try to promote baby foods at grocery stores and medical stores.
07:27	Commercial baby foods are prominently displayed in the stores.
07:33	They use incentives to lure people to buy and use commercial baby foods.
07:42	Health activists realised how harmful these strategies are for babies.
07:50	Infancy is a vulnerable period of life.
07:55	Inappropriate feeding practices like improper use of baby foods are very risky.
08:05	So, the regulation of commercial baby foods promotion requires special laws.
08:14	Therefore, the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes was created.
08:23	It was adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1981.
08:30	This urged all countries to make laws regulating the marketing of baby foods.
08:39	India passed the “Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act 1992, and Amendment Act 2003”.
08:57	It is also called the IMS Act.
09:02	There are many laws passed by all the countries enacting the code.
09:09	Among all the laws, the IMS Act is one of the most stringent laws.
09:17	The provisions of the IMS Act are very clearly put up by BPNI.
09:25	BPNI is the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India.
09:32	Now, let’s discuss the 10 violations of the IMS Act.
09:39	The IMS Act is considered violated if:
09:44	A food is promoted by any means specifically for children up to 2 years of age.
09:53	The name of the food doesn’t matter.
09:57	If the products under the scope of the IMS Act are advertised.
10:04	This includes infant milk substitutes, feeding bottles and infant food.
10:12	Any ad in any form or any medium violates the IMS act.
10:20	It includes TV, newspapers, magazines, journals, radio, SMS advertisements.
10:30	It also includes social media, billboards, banners and other advertisements.
10:39	If the product or its samples are distributed to any person directly.
10:47	This includes pregnant women or lactating women.
10:53	If any kind of incentive is offered to use or sell the product.
11:01	Incentives could be discounts or free gifts, etc.
11:08	If educational material related to the promotion of IMS is distributed.
11:16	If the labels of these products carry specific pictures for increasing sales.
11:24	These pictures could be of mothers, babies, cartoons, graphics, etc.
11:33	If a hospital, nursing home, chemist shop promotes IMS in any way.
11:41	This includes displaying placards or posters of IMS companies.
11:49	If money or gifts are offered to health workers or their family to promote IMS.
11:58	If an IMS company or its distributor provides direct or indirect contributions.
12:08	It includes funding for seminars,
12:11	meetings, conferences
12:14	or educational courses.
12:17	It also includes sponsorships,
12:21	research grants or fellowships.
12:25	Sponsorship of health workers or their associations is also not allowed.
12:33	If the volume of sales of IMS is the basis for fixing the sales commission.
12:42	By doing so, the IMS company or its product distributor violates the IMS Act.
12:51	Please report these violations immediately.
12:56	To do so, you can use the BPNI STANPAN SURAKSHA mobile application.
13:05	This application is very user-friendly.
13:11	It involves only 2 simple steps to report a violation.
13:17	When you detect any violation, open the application.
13:23	Click the tab in the menu 'Report promotion of baby foods or feeding bottles'.
13:32	The reporting page will open.
13:36	Provide necessary information in the designated columns.
13:42	Attach any photograph or document if you have.
13:48	Submit it.
13:51	Remember, IMS companies may state the benefits of breastfeeding in their ads.
13:59	However, any such ad still makes a mother doubt her plan to breastfeed.
14:07	Their ads are designed to sell baby foods to as many mothers as possible.
14:14	The sooner a mother stops breastfeeding, the more formula is purchased.
14:21	This is why IMS companies try to make breastfeeding seem unimportant.
14:30	Breastfeeding is essential for a baby at least until 2 years of age.
14:38	The correct breastfeeding technique is important for breastfeeding adequately.
14:45	It is discussed in other tutorials in the same series.
14:51	This brings us to the end of this tutorial. Thank you for joining.

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