In a letter of commitment signed in Beijing on Saturday, Nestle and five other breast milk substitute producers vowed not to publish commercials on breast-milk substitutes or otherwise take actions that may impact mothers' and babies' rights of breast-feeding.

The signing is part of an event held by the Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to mark the 25th anniversary of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and celebrate World Breast-breeding Week, August 1-7.

Breast milk, with the nutrients and antibodies it provides, is the best and safest way to start a human life.

However, commercials for substitutes to breast-milk such as milk powder and rice powder use ideal images to mislead young mothers into giving up on breast-feeding.

The International Code of Marketing of Breast milk Substitutes was passed on the 34th World Health Assembly in 1981. China's Management Rules on Marketing of Breast milk Substitutes, which took effect in 1995, also proposed several limitations on the marketing of breast milk substitutes, including a ban on commercials in this field.

Despite breast-feeding propaganda and supervision implemented to curb illegal commercials, such commercials still widely exist, and the rate of breast-feeding has fallen in recent years.

"The WHO appreciates the Chinese Government's position in breast-feeding promotion. It not only gives words but also takes actions to improve children's health in the country with the largest population in the world, which is beneficial to the UN's millennial goal for children health," said Cristobal Tunon, a senior official with the WHO Regional Office for China.

"However, we cannot deny that great challenges are still ahead," he added.

Breast-feeding can save 3,500 children's lives worldwide per day, making it much more powerful than any other precautionary measures, Tunon said.

"If the rate of breast-feeding reaches 90 percent in the whole of China, the infant mortality will be reduced by 4 percent, meaning 21,600 children per year or 60 per day." Koen Vanormelingen, chief of the Health and Nutrition Section of the UNICEF Office for China, told China Daily.

"High work pressure on women, inadequacy of maternity leave and lack of baby-friendliness in the workplace are important factors. But the lack of consumer awareness on the importance of breast-feeding and the lack of enforcement of the China's Management Rules on the Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes are also among causes of the decrease," Vanormelingen said.

"The principle of 'First Call for Children' needs to be implemented," said Wan Yan, deputy director of the Committee on Women and Children under the State Council, "and popularization of breast-feeding is a long-term program asking for social responsibility."

(China Daily August 7, 2006)