A Call to Action: Healthcare Professionals to Become Independent of the Commercial Milk Formula Industry

Abstract

Health-care professionals (HCP) have a responsibility to protect and promote maternal and infant health and breastfeeding is one of the most effective measures to support this. Increasing breastfeeding rates in Australia is crucial to improving population health, but the absence of robust policies, programmes and education for HCP undermines this effort. The pervasive marketing of commercial milk formulas (CMF), including sponsorship of HCP and their organisations, has introduced significant conflicts of interest that distort clinical practice, education, research and guidelines developed in the infant feeding domain. This paper calls on all HCP to seek independence from the CMF industry and to actively support breastfeeding in their practice.