Does WHO say that 1.5 million babies die annually because of bottle-feeding?
The fact that the lives of 1.5 million babies could be saved if exclusive breastfeeding was successfully promoted and maintained is often distorted to suggest the fault lies with the use of infant formula. The distorted use of this statement is expressed through campaign slogans like: “A baby dies every 30 seconds from unsafe bottle feeding” or “The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 1.5 million infants die as a result of diarrhea every year because they are not breastfed. Despite this, companies continue to promote artificial feeding in ways that undermine breastfeeding…” This statistic is often attributed to the World Health Organization. In fact, the WHO has clarified that it has never made such a statement either in relation to infant formula or to bottle-feeding in general. “… WHO has made no statement quantifying the impact on either morbidity or mortality of infants being fed on bona fide infant formula, i.e. breast-milk substitutes manufactured in accordance wit
