The law prohibits baby food manufacturers from funding or sponsoring conferences and meetings of doctors. Yet, Abbott Nutrition, an infant formula manufacturing company, is sponsoring a ‘national paediatrics summit’ in a five-star hotel in Dehradun on March 8 and 9.
In 2020, the Indian Academy of Paediatrics , the largest association of paediatricians in India, had admitted taking funding from Abbott India Ltd for its conferences claiming that the pharmaceutical division was a different company from Abbott Nutrition, though the multinational, Abbott Laboratories, had clarified that Abbott Nutrition was its subsidiary. The union health ministry too flagged it as a violation of the Infant Milk Substitutes (IMS) Act and sought explanation from the IAP.
Section 9(2) of IMS Act states that no producer, supplier, distributor or seller of infant milk substitutes or feeding bottles or infant foods shall offer or give, directly or indirectly, “contribution or pecuniary benefit to a health worker or any association of health workers, including funding of seminar, meeting, conferences, educational course, contest, fellowship, research work or sponsorship.”
Abbott India Ltd stated: “No information regarding infant milk substitute products will be presented… This summit is organized to educate about pediatric nutrition and provides valuable scientific knowledge to healthcare professional helping them meet the evolving needs of children in India.”
