Burkina Faso/Koudougou: Involvement of journalists and communicators in promoting breastfeeding

Launched on July 10, 2023 in Koudougou, the training workshop on the decree on the marketing of breastmilk substitutes, infant and young child foods and feeding utensils closed its doors on Wednesday July 12. This initiative of the Ministry of Health, through the multisectoral technical secretariat for nutrition, was attended by some thirty journalists from the print, online and audiovisual media, both public and private, as well as communicators. It was financially supported by UNICEF.

The technical secretariat in charge of multisectoral nutrition aims to involve the media and communicators in the wide-scale dissemination of the decree regulating the marketing of breastmilk substitutes (MMS) adopted by the Council of Ministers.glementation de la commercialisation des substituts du lait maternel (SLM) adopté en 2021 en conseil des ministres, ainsi que sur l'utilisation des intrants nutritionnels destinés à la prise en charge des enfants souffrant de malnutrition aiguë sévère ou modéré. With this in mind, a training workshop was organized for them. The session took place from July 10 to 12, 2023, in Koudougou, and was attended by some thirty participants.

In her opening speech, the Head of the Department for the Prevention of Malnutrition and Promotion of Appropriate Nutritional Practices pointed out that the revision of the decree on the marketing and practices relating to LMS products is relevant in a context where its application has shown many shortcomings. Among these shortcomings, Hélène Ouédraogo cited the promotion of SLM within health facilities, and nutritional claims that often compare SLM to the same nutritional values as breast milk.ments (Plumpy'nut and plumpy'Sup- PPL), which cost the Burkina Faso government over a billion CFA francs a year.

In his view, the benefits of breast milk need no further demonstration. In addition to ensuring a child's survival and harmonious development, breastfeeding prevents breast and ovarian cancer, and creates an emotional bond. Ms Ouédraogo therefore hoped that journalists would act as relays with the population and public opinion, to better popularize the decree and give children a better start in life. But that's not all. "We're also asking participants to raise public awareness of the fact that PPLs sold on the market are not intended for healthy children, but for severely malnourished children", she adds.

During the training session, the beneficiaries heard presentations on the management procedures for nutritional inputs, the current status of regulatory texts relating to SLM worldwide, and the role of SLM in the fight against malnutrition.the context of the revision of the decree, the presentation of the content of the decree, the application order and the order of the code implementation monitoring committee. The Head of the Malnutrition Prevention and Promotion of Appropriate Nutritional Practices Department was one of the presenters.

The content of the decree

From the substance of her presentation, we can see that the decree regulating the marketing of LTCs prohibits any manufacturer or distributor from marketing a follow-on formula, a formula for young children or a food product for infants and young children with packaging or labelling containing a text, a logo, a logo or a symbol.This includes, but is not limited to, references to developmental milestones clearly reached before the age of six months, or the use of photos of infants who appear to be younger than six months.

Text, images or other representations that idealize the product or are likely to compromise or discouragebreast-feeding or to make people believe that the product is equivalent or superior to breast milk; a recommendation to bottle-feed the baby or which promotes the use of the bottle (...). "The products covered by this decree are subject to a compulsory medical prescription, in accordance with the interministerial decree on the conditions for issuing marketing authorizations.livrance des autorisations de mise sur le marché des denrées alimentaires au Burkina Faso et doivent faire l'objet d'une vente exclusive en officine ou dans un dépôt pharmaceutique à l'article 5 ", Mme Ouédraogo pointed out.

Paulin Kahoun, from the structure organizing this training session, revealed that "the time taken to revise the decree (5 years) was not necessarily institutional. There were people whose interests were threatened and who didn't want the process to succeed". For him, the decree is not directed against any particular firm. "The State has a policy of protecting and promoting breastfeeding. From 0 to 6 months, nothing should be given to the child except breast milk. But you're going to take cans of milk or they say it's suitable for children from 0 to 3 months. It's these allegations that we're fighting with this decree", emphasized Mr. Kahoun.

The training went well, with dynamic participation and clear interest from participants. There was a great deal of exchange and sharing between the trainer and the participants on all the themes developed. The workshop resulted in a number of recommendations. Among other recommendations, the club of journalists and communicators for nutrition should be strengthened, and a prize should be instituted to encourage the production of nutrition-related journalism.

Training achieves expected results

Participants said they were very satisfied with the 72-hour event. For Cyril Zoma, representative of L'Observateur Paalga in Koudougou, this training is not too much. "We often thought we knew or mastered certain things, but in the light of this training, we've seen that we've gone back to school on breastfeeding and the use of LMS.Often these are things we perceive in a haphazard way without really knowing their scope. This training was very relevant. We can now easily defend the practice of breastfeeding and advise people on how to use SLMs and the precautions to be taken when using them", he says.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Zoma expressed his gratitude to the organizers for the opportunity to strengthen their capacities, and congratulated the participants on their attentiveness, discipline and assiduity. For her part, Victorine Zongo of Groupe Savane Médias praised the trainers' mastery of the themes. "Through the topics covered during this training course, we acquired a lot of knowledge on subjects we didn't necessarily master. I'm not going to talk about breast milk, because as a mother I know what it's worth. But as far as LMS are concerned, they are sold illegally. We have become aware of this practice. In the days to come, we're going to work to raise people's awareness, because the use of SLM is not without its dangers", promised Mrs Zongo.

As a reminder, the decree will continue to be disseminated to other players, including those in the decentralized health system, military and paramilitary health units (...).

Source: lefaso.net/