Several baby-food product companies have allegedly been flouting existing laws to carry out aggressive marketing campaigns targeting the parents of children during the ongoing measles-rubella vaccination campaign.
Many companies have reportedly recruited a large number of marketing representatives to promote milk products during the vaccination campaign, as the vaccination period has offered the companies the chance to reach thousands of parents at a go.
Nilufar Begum, a mother of two, went to an urban health centre adjacent to Azimpur new graveyard on Sunday to have her children vaccinated against measles, rubella and polio diseases.
After waiting in a queue for over half an hour, Nilufar and her children reached the top of the line when they were approached by a representative from a milk company.
Nilufar said the representative, a “smart young lady,” asked her which powder milk she preferred for her children, and offered her a free chart of the company’s products. The representative said the chart would help Nilufar to select the best milk product for her children and provide proper feeding instructions to make the children stronger, intelligent and healthy.
Nilufar said she had heard about aggressive marketing promotions by baby-food product companies, before becoming targeted herself.
The promotional campaigns were carried out openly and unobstructed in front of the doctors and staffs, with the on-duty doctor claiming that they were busy vaccinating hundreds of children and did not notice the marketers.
The promotional activities by several companies have allegedly been in violation of the Breast-Milk Substitutes, Baby Foods, Commercially Manufactured Supplementary Baby Foods and Its Equipment (Regulation of Marketing) Act 2013, which aims to protect children up to five years of age.
The act – which is yet to be fully enforced – calls for a complete restriction on the advertisement of breast milk substitutes, baby foods, children’s food supplements and its equipment. A maximum of three years of jail, or Tk5 lakh, or both, have been recommended as penalty for the violation of the ban.
Seeking anonymity, senior officials of the health ministry told the Dhaka Tribune that they were now preparing the necessary regulations to ensure the proper implementation of the law, the gazette for which was published on September 22, 2013.
Dr SK Roy, chairperson of Bangladesh Breastfeeding Foundation, said such type of campaigns were in clear violation of the act. Any company found guilty of such campaigns would be punished for criminal offence or be fined, he added.
Prof Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed, director of Communicable Disease Control, told the Dhaka Tribune he did not receive any report regarding such promotional activity, but admitted that such campaigns were not uncommon.
Authorities had previously found health sector employees to be also involved with similar illegal activities by the companies, he said.
The health ministry’s largest ever measles-rubella vaccination campaign, which hopes to vaccinate more than five crore children between the ages of nine months and 15 years, began on January 25 and will continue until February 13.