The Philippine Pediatric Society Inc. (PPS), the country’s largest organization of practicing pediatricians, fully supports the existing implementation of Executive Order 51, or more popularly known as the “Milk Code of 1988.” The P4,500-strong membership of the PPS is one and united in endorsing the superiority of breast milk as the sole source of optimum nutrition for infants and children up to beyond two years old and the introduction of complementary feeding starting six months of age.
In a recent press release by the Infant and Pediatric Nutrition Association of the Philippines (IPNAP) dated Sept. 12, 2012 published in the Philippine STAR, the PPS clarified that the IPNAP is an organization of milk companies and does not include pediatricians who apparently have lauded recent moves to “review and amend” the provisions of EO 51 to “address the changing lifestyle of Filipino mother and their children.”
The PPS likewise reiterates that the society continues to “adhere and support” the global movement that “breastmilk is best for babies.”— EDWIN V. RODRIGUEZ, MD, FPPS