A leading infant care advocacy group has written to the Union Health Secretary to initiate urgent action against a global healthcare company for violating the Infant Milk Substitutes (IMS) Act, which prohibits baby food manufacturers from sponsoring a doctors' meeting.
The Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) is a 33-year-old national network of organisations and individuals that promotes mother and child health through the protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding. BPNI was notified as a child welfare NGO to initiate action under section 21(1) of the IMS Act for officially monitoring and implementing the Act since 1995.
BPNI requested the Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava in a letter dated March 3, "to initiate immediate action against the offending company for violating the IMS Act and direct state department of health to intervene and stop the event."
The NGO highlighted in the letter that Abbott Nutrition, a multinational company producing infant milk substitutes, violated the IMS Act by sponsoring a pediatric health summit in Dehradun.
In his letter to the five state chief secretaries, Dr Arun Gupta, Central Coordinator of BPNI, said, "We have come to know that Abbott is sponsoring paediatricians from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana for a meeting at Hyatt Regency, Dehradun, covering their travel and stay at a five-star hotel on 8th-9th March 2025."
The letter, which was also addressed to the principal health secretaries of these five states, Dr Gupta, said, "This is a direct contravention of Section 9 of the IMS Act."
According to 9 (2), "No producer, supplier or distributor referred to in subsection (1), shall offer or give any contribution or pecuniary benefit to a health worker or any association of health workers, including funding of seminar, meeting, conference, educational course, contest, fellowship, research work or sponsorship."
"It, therefore, prohibits any form of sponsorship of health workers who care for mothers and babies by the manufacturers of infant milk substitutes," said Dr Gupta, who is also Convener of Nutrition Advocacy for Public Interest (NAPi), a national think-tank on nutrition consisting of independent medical experts, paediatricians, and nutritionists.
An Abbott Nutrition spokesperson said, "The National Pediatric Summit is an educative scientific program and is fully compliant with the IMS Act."
"No information regarding infant milk substitute products will be presented. This summit is being organised to educate about pediatric nutrition and provide valuable scientific knowledge to healthcare professionals and the scientific community," the company told this paper.
However, Dr Gupta told this paper that the "law prohibits sponsoring or providing any benefits to any health workers who care for mothers and children."
"If violated, it's a cognizable offence. The government should get serious about implementing and enforcing it; otherwise, these baby food companies won't stop. The government can at least initiate investigations," he said.
In his letter, Dr Gupta said, "We urge you to take immediate steps to alert the paediatricians of these states to avoid this illegal activity by reminding them of their obligations under the IMS Act and discourage them from participating in such events through your communication channels."
"Such unethical marketing tactics can only undermine public health policies, ultimately affecting child health, nutrition and survival. This is the basis of the enactment," said Dr Gupta, a former member of PM's Council on India's Nutrition Challenges.
"Given the urgency of the situation, we request your swift intervention to protect the integrity of public health policies and ensure strict compliance with the IMS Act," he said in his letter, hoping that the state governments would take prompt, appropriate action.
India enacted the IMS Act in August 1993 to protect breastfeeding from commercial influence. An offence committed under this law is cognisable.
BPNI has also written to the Uttarakhand Director General of Police to investigate how the event has been funded and ensure the meeting is stopped.