Dr. Jay Gordon Lambasts Bill Gates over Nestlé Investments
January 15, 2007 by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor
Filed under activism, breastfeeding
Pediatrician Dr. Jay Gordon holds the distinction of being the first male physician to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) (here’s hoping many more physicians–male and female–have followed his lead). Obviously he’s passionate about infant care and breastfeeding. Perhaps that’s why he berates Bill Gates so harshly in his opinion piece “Bill Gates Invests in Companies Which Increase Infants’ Deaths” in The Huffington Post today.
While Dr. Gordon acknowledges all of the good Bill and Melinda Gates and their foundation have done, he criticizes them for their “blind investments.”
All experts agree that non-breastfed infants in the Third World die at a rate much higher than those which are exclusively breastfed.
The number of preventable deaths is somewhere between 50 and 75% of babies who die of diarrhea and other infections….
Gates invests in Nestlé. Nestlé has persisted in egregious violations of the World Health Organization’s Code for marketing infant formula. Over one million babies die worldwide because Nestlé and other multinationals promote artificial feeding (formula) to the detriment of efforts to inform mothers of the risks of not breastfeeding. International boycotts have only temporarily decreased Nestlé’s efforts.
Dr. Gordon chides Bill Gates for taking the low road and refusing to become socially responsible in how philanthropic funds are invested.
What do you think? Do you boycott Nestlé?
Thanks to the author of Genetics and Health for the tip about this story.
I do try to avoid Nestle (and have since college), but they own so much it seems harder to do all the time.
I know what you mean. I had trouble the other day trying to find evaporated milk for a pumpkin pie recipe. It’s not easy!
I love your blog. Very well done. Thank you for what you are doing here for the lactation community. Anyway, I am not very good at boycotting or writing letters or anything like that. I don’t try to buy Nestle items but I don’t do a great job of avoiding them either. As far a Dr. Jay Gordon goes, I love that man. He makes a hard core “lactivist” like me look like a formula company rep. He is one of the few pediatricians practicing today that tells it like it is. He doesn’t play games or give guilt trips, he just flat out talks about breastfeeding, vaccines, nutrition, etc. in a way that very few doctors do. I am always amazed with what Jay has to say. I almost always agree with him, but when I don’t I still respect him.
Keep up the good work!
Micky
Thanks Micky! I’ve added your blog to my blogroll and I hope you’ll do the same for Breastfeeding 1-2-3!