25 June 2021 – NNC XI participated in a Virtual Consultative Meeting for members of Regional Breastfeeding Task Force or the Milk Code Task Force hosted by DOH XI. The meeting, aimed at discussing issues and concern regarding the implementation and enforcement of Executive Order 51 or the Milk Code and its Revised lmplementing Rules and Regulations (DOH-AO 2006-012), was attended by more than 20 participants representing relevant regional stakeholders.
Ms. Grace Elsa Albano, RND and Ms. Rhoebelle Ann Balio, RN facilitated the discussion, where they presented some important highlights on the provisions of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (DOH-AO 2006-012) of the Milk Code. They also shared updates on the status of Milk Code Implementation in the Region, including some examples of Milk Code violations that were reported to DOH XI and their subsequent actions in resolving these reported violations. This prompted some reaction from representatives of Hospitals wherein some of them sought for consideration for special circumstances such as burn patients or instances wherein the mother of the newly born infant is physically unable to breastfeed her child. Ms. Albano informed them that the hospital may formulate their own policy on the said matter, without undermining the provisions of the Milk Code. Anecdotal reports of EO 51 violations also emerged from the discussions as raised by some members of partner NGO Latch. Ms. Albano thanked the group for getting all these information across, so that the task force will be more aware of the actions that need to be undertaken. However, she also reminded the group that in order for the task force to act on any violations, details and other pertinent information are needed, to ensure that these platforms are not thoroughly abused by individuals or groups.
The discussion led to the presentation of the EO 51 Violation Reporting System. Ms. Albano shared that the newly designed app called the Mother-Baby Friendly App or the MBFPh App, a Crowd-based Monitoring of Milk Code Compliance is already available for download. This online platform is accessible to the public, therefore any group or individual who have first-hand knowledge of any type of Milk Code violation can report directly to the site. A website: www.mother-babyfriendlyphilippines.org is already up and can be accessed by the public. Both the website and the App were designed by World Vision, in partnership with Mother-Baby Friendly Philippines and the Department of Health.
The meeting ended with DOH XI’s assurance that the Regional Breastfeeding Task Force or the Milk Code Task Force consultation meeting will become a regular activity and that a Group Chat will be created for the group to have consistent communication in between the regular consultative meetings.
/AET
