In Reply to: Is it worth taking baby formula to give posted by Tuberose on Friday, 23. February 2007 at 16:23 Bali Time:
Saw this on another site.
It is estimated that one million infant deaths per year can be prevented by using the world's most economical and effective health protection: breastmilk. What accounts for the connection between formula and infant mortality? To begin, formula is very expensive, and many families, particularly in Third World countries, cannot afford to buy enough formula to keep a growing baby healthy. Baby formula often uses up more than 50 percent of a household income. For example, in Somalia, a week of powdered formula--about 2.2 lbs.--costs a week's salary for a doctor. Bottles, nipples, fuel, and additional medical expenses must also be added to feeding costs. As a result of the expense, other family members often go hungry, and/or mothers dilute the formula so that it will last longer, sometimes starving their babies in the process.
Another contributing factor is the likelihood that those who prepare the formula cannot read well enough to follow instructions and prepare the formula properly. In addition, many families do not have access to enough clean water to prepare the formula and enough fuel to sterilize bottles four or five times a day for each feeding. Finally, babies are sometimes allergic to breastmilk substitutes. Many of the world's babies (including those from industrialized nations) have lactose intolerance, making it dangerous for them to drink formulas based on cow's milk, which most formulas are. As a result, bottle-fed babies in the Third World tend to fall ill and die at rates much higher than their breastfed siblings and cousins.(2)