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People's Initiative to Counteract Misinformation and Marketing Practices: The Pembo, Philippines, Breastfeeding Experience, 2006

City Health Office, Makati City Government

Josephine I. Gallardo, MD

City Health Office, Makati City Government, Makati City, Philippines

Juliana A. Dineros, MD

City Health Office, Makati City Government

Alma F. Gammad, RND, MSN

City Health Office, Makati City Government

Juanita Basilio, MD

National Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Department of Health, San Lazaro Hospital, Sta Cruz, Manila, Philippines

Vicenta Borja

National Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Department of Health, San Lazaro Hospital

Alessandro Iellamo

World Health Organization, Office of the Representative, San Lazaro Hospital

Lana Worobec

World Health Organization, Office of the Representative, San Lazaro Hospital

Howard Sobel, MD, MPH

World Health Organization, Office of the Representative, San Lazaro Hospital, sobelh{at}wpro.who.int

Jean-Marc Olivé, MD, MPH

World Health Organization, Office of the Representative, San Lazaro Hospital

The Philippines is among 42 countries accounting for 90% of under 5-year-old deaths. Only 16% of 4 to 5 month old Filipinos exclusively breastfeed. In 2006, almost $100 million was spent advertising formula in the Philippines. To counter widespread misinformation and improve breastfeeding a peer counseling intervention was developed to target mothers with infants less than 2 months of age who were not exclusively breastfeeding or had difficulty breastfeeding. Participants received 3 peer counseling visits. At baseline and 3 weeks later, 24-hour food recalls for infants were collected. The number of exclusively formula-fed infants decreased seven-fold (P < .001). Mixed-fed infants decreased 37% (P < .001). Overall, of the 148 nonexclusively breastfeeding infants, 69.5% had changed feeding methods after 3 home visits, 76% of whom to exclusive breastfeeding. Community-based peer counseling was associated with a drastic improvement of exclusive breastfeeding practices. This intervention evolved and became sustainable by engaging political figures, cities, and communities throughout the process. In 2 years, the Department of Health, World Health Organization (WHO) program has scaled up to improve health service delivery for 161 612 persons in depressed urban communities in the Philippines. J Hum Lact. 25(3):341-349.

Key Words: exclusive breastfeeding • peer counseling • misinformation • sustainability

This version was published on August 1, 2009

Journal of Human Lactation, Vol. 25, No. 3, 341-349 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0890334409334605


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