Fwd: FW: POLITICAL ACTION ALERT: Breastfeeding Ad Campaign in JEOPARDY!!!!

[Guest guest]

Fri, 21 Nov 2003 07:38:39 -0900

Sandy Mintz

FW: POLITICAL ACTION ALERT: Breastfeeding Ad Campaign in JEOPARDY!!!!

 

 

From Ellen:

 

Thought that I would keep you all up to date on the

happenings of the last 24 hours. I am outraged that the AAP

is worried about the feelings and profits of the formula companies and is

considering canceling this ad campaign. We ALL should be angry that the

powers that be care more about lining their pockets w/perks then by allowing

the truth about the dangers of artificial infant feeding to come out. Please

take a few moments to help all the moms and babies have the opportunity to

base their feeding choices on the TRUTH.

 

Ellen

 

 

Fri, 21 Nov 2003 07:16:54 EST

Marshalact

Breastfeeding Campaign Letter Writing

 

Hello Everyone,

 

A number of you have asked where to send letters to express your dismay at

the formula companies' attempts to derail the National Breastfeeding

Awareness Campaign. I have composed a partial list as follows. If you belong

to a task force or coalition, please alert them and ask that a letter be

sent from the coalition as well as each individual person. Please also

include your Senator and Representative in Congress in your letter writing.

They need to hear about this. Consider alerting the media so that mothers

know that breastfeeding information is being suppressed and what they hear

may be censored. Withholding information from the public is serious

" business. " Please feel free to use any of my posts to forward to others you

work with. A number of you have asked for permission to do so. Permission

granted!

 

 

Direct letters regarding the postponement of the National Breastfeeding

Awareness Campaign to:

 

Honorable Tommy G. Thompson

Secretary

Department of Health and Human Services

200 Independence Ave, SW

Washington, DC 20201

 

Senator Bill Frist, M.D.

461 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

202 224-3344

Fax 202 228-1264

(Senate Majority Leader

Member Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions)

 

Senator Lamar Alexander

302 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

202 224-4944

(Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

Chair, Subcommittee on Children and Families)

 

Kevin Keane

HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs

DHHS/OS/ASPA

200 Independence Ave, SW

Washington, DC 20201

202 690-7850

 

To obtain contact information for the media should you wish

to inform the

various newspapers, television stations, and reporters

about the delay in the

launch of the breastfeeding awareness campaign use the following URL for

finding both national and local media: http://capwiz.com/awhonn/dbq/media/

 

To lodge a complaint regarding the actions of the formula

companies:

The Council of Better Business Bureaus

4200 Wilson Blvd, Suite 800

Arlington, VA 22203-0100

703 276-0100

Fax 703 525-8277

 

Office of the Inspector General

Office of Public Affairs

Department of Health and Human Services

Room 5541 Cohen Building

330 Independence Ave, SW

Washington, DC 20201

202 619-1343

Fax 202 260-8512

paffairs

 

To complain about the actions of the American Academy of Pediatrics write to

Dr. Carden Johnston, President of the AAP and Dr. Joe Sanders, Executive of AAP who were instrumental in sending the letter of protest to

the Secretary of Health.

 

American Academy of Pediatrics

141 Northwest Point Blvd

Elk Grove Village, IL 60009-0927

 

A letter of support would probably be much appreciated by

the AAP's Section

on Breastfeeding whose Executive Committee and Chair

(Lawrence Gartner) deserve

a cyber hug and congratulations for their bold stand and

firm belief in the

value of breastfeeding and the importance of their ethics

and principles.

 

gart

 

Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC

Weston, MA

 

 

Hi All,

 

Below please find a sample letter that can be used to communicate your

concerns regarding the National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign.

 

In addition to Secretary Tommy G. Thompson you may want to contact members

of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee as well as

individual senators and house members from your state.

 

You can secure the names and addresses of individual

members of congress

by

visiting the following website:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

 

On a positive note, I had the opportunity to speak with

the HHS

Assistant

Secretary for Public Affairs, Kevin Keane. I assured him

that his office

had

the full support of the USBC and he assured me that the resolution of the

issues surrounding the campaign would have his full attention next week. He

is currently preoccupied with Medicare legislation. The goal of DHHS is to

launch a breastfeeding campaign that can stand up to any criticism. I will

keep you posted as more information becomes available.

 

Amy

Amy Spangler, RN, MN, IBCLC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sample Letter:

 

November , 2003

 

Dear ,

 

I am writing to express my deep concern regarding recent actions that I

understand have been taken by representatives of the infant formula industry

regarding the National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign developed by The

Advertising Council in cooperation with the Department of Health and Human

Services Office on Women's Health. It is also my understanding that as the

result of these actions both the content of the campaign as well as the

launch date are in jeopardy.

 

This campaign is an essential element of the strategy of

the United

States to achieve the Healthy People 2010 breastfeeding

goals of at least

75% of all newborns being breastfed, 50% still

breastfeeding at 6 months

of age and 25% continuing to a year or beyond. When these

goals are

achieved, thousands of episodes of illness in infants and

young children

will not occur, the risk of childhood obesity will be

lowered, and

between 3.5 and 4 billion dollars will be saved annually.

 

The Advertising Council has an outstanding record of

successful campaigns

to achieve behavior change. The content of the National Breastfeeding

Awareness Campaign strategy has been carefully designed by the Council in

response to discussions with thirty-six focus groups conducted in four

regions of the country. The focus groups, formed to ensure diversity of

ethnicity, gender, age, marital and socioeconomic status indicated that it

was essential that the health consequences of not breastfeeding be clearly

communicated in the campaign. The messages have been designed to respond to

this recommendation. Given the success of prior Advertising Council

campaigns there is no justification for altering the campaign strategy.

 

I urge you to support the scheduled launch of the campaign

and to retain

the content as developed. Helping all Americans live

longer, better, and

healthier lives, will be significantly enhanced by fully supporting the

National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Ellen Penchuk, IBCLC

Lactation Consultant

LifeCare Inc.

400 Nyala Farm Road, Box 2783

Westport, CT 06880

Ph: (203) 291-3712

Fax: (203) 291-3575 #3712

e-mail: epenchuk

http://www.lifecare.com

 

 

 

 

Sandy Mintz

http://www.vaccinationnews.com/

http://www.vaccinationnews.com/Scandals/past_scandals.htm

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