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| Courtesy: Getty images |
Cambodia banned
the export of breast milk on Tuesday, putting a stop to the business of a
U.S.-based company that had been selling the milk in the United States.
Dozens of
Cambodian women have been selling their excess milk to a US based company
Ambrosia, which in turn marketed the milk to US consumers who had lactational
failure.
Cambodian Cabinet
ordered the health minister to put a stop to the practice immediately. The
order, issued by Ngor Hong Ly wrote, “Although Cambodia is poor and [life is]
difficult, it is not at the level that it will sell breast milk from mothers.”
Several
countries around the world run breast milk bank, breast milk is also sold via
websites and private networks. This case is controversial because UNICEF made a
statement about the practice "exploiting vulnerable and poor women for
profit and commercial purposes", and said breast milk should not be commercialized.
UNICEF
further reported a fall in number of children breast fed by 10% in recent years.
Ryan Newell,
co-owner of Ambrosia said in defense “mothers were allowed to sell their milk
only twice a day and were required to wait until their children were at least 6
months old, the age at which the World Health Organization recommends that
parents begin adding supplementary food to baby diets.”
"We're
not taking away from those children," Newell said from the company's
offices in Orem, Utah, south of Salt Lake City. "We're just taking the
extra that those mothers would be losing at that point if they start weening
their children."
"We've
been able to offer these women work where they are earning two to three times
what they would be making elsewhere," Newell said. "They're able to
stay home with their kids more because they are not working the insane
hours."
The women
who gave the breast milk were regretful about the ban. Speaking to media, the
women said selling their milk gave them a much-needed stable source of income
while enabling them to stay at home and take care of their children. They could
earn up to $12 a day - a considerable sum.
Some researchers
argue that "If the buyer and seller are happy with the process then we
have to respect that that is their decision."
The question
remains unanswered whether the Cambodian women are exploited because of economic
incentive to sell milk and cutting down the supply to their own children or
they are empowered by money they earn to support the family?
The experts
do agree that selling human milk across international borders is complex issue
which requires extreme scrutiny.
Sources:
BBC News
Reuters
Health
