Ministry of Health Appoints Compliance Panel to Monitor The Code in New Zealand
A compliance panel has been appointed by the Ministry of Health to consider unresolved complaints relating to The Code in New Zealand, which is a self-regulatory code to guide the marketing of infant formula.
The Code in New Zealand ensures health workers protect, promote and support breastfeeding, giving clear, consistent and accurate information about the importance of breastfeeding and create a breastfeeding friendly environment in their organisation. It also means that infant formula shouldn't be marketed in New Zealand, and follow-on formula shouldn't be marketed in a way that undermines breastfeeding.
Elizabeth Aitken, team leader and senior advisor of nutrition at the Ministry of Health says the Code ensures that mothers have access to adequate information about breast milk substitutes e.g. infant formula, to make decisions for their baby, based on impartial information and free of commercial influences.
In August 2007, the Ministry of Health released a revised document Implementing and Monitoring the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes in New Zealand: The Code in New Zealand, which now includes the Code of Practice for Health Workers and the New Zealand Infant Formula Marketers' Association Code of Practice for the Marketing of Infant Formula.
The Ministry has a formal process for considering breaches of the codes and these are dealt with on a 'case by case' basis, says Elizabeth Aitken.
A complaint can be made to the Ministry of Health concerning a potential breach to The Code in New Zealand, the Health Workers Code and the NZIFMA's Code of Practice for the Marketing of Infant Formula. If a complaint is unresolved between the complainant and the respondent then it is considered by a compliance panel.
The recently appointed compliance panel includes Prue Kapua as chair, Dr Fiona McCrimmon as the adjudicator and the other members are Hiki Pihema, Sharron Cole, Nimisha Waller and Jan Carey.
For further information about the Code in New Zealand please go to the Ministry of Health website -
http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/breastmilksubstitutemarketingcode
Information on the members of the compliance panel:
Prue Kapua (chair)
Prue Kapua is based in Auckland and has been appointed chair of the compliance panel. She is the principal in the Tamatekapua law firm. Prue is an experienced barrister/solicitor and is active in many governance roles including director of Te Wai Mori Trust, member of the National Kaitiaki Group and past co-Deputy Chair of the Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal.
Dr Fiona McCrimmon (adjudicator)
Dr McCrimmon has been appointed adjudicator of the compliance panel. She is a graduate in both medicine and law and has specialised in healthcare law for over a decade in her own practice. Governance roles Dr McCrimmon has been involved in include a role as Deputy Chair of the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Committee; the legal representative on the Multi-Region Ethics Committee; has acted as a member of the Pharmaceutical Society's Disciplinary Committee and is a current member of the Ministry's National Screening Unit Newborn Metabolic Screening Advisory Group.
Hiki Pihema
Hiki Pihema has been appointed as the health practitioner to the compliance panel. She is a senior dietitian for the Tairawhiti District Health Board. Hiki is a former president of the New Zealand Dietetic Association and is a member of the Health Practitioner Disciplinary Tribunal for Dietitians and the Ministry's Guidelines Steering Group for the management of overweight and obesity.
Sharron Cole
Sharron Cole has been appointed as the consumer representative on the compliance panel. She is currently Deputy Chief Commissioner for the Families Commission; a member of the Hutt Valley District Health Board; a member of Pharmac's Consumer Advisory Committee; a member of the Midwifery Council and is co-chair of the ACC Research Ethics Committee.
Nimisha Waller
Nimisha Waller has been appointed as the academic member of the compliance panel. She is a senior lecturer in the School of Midwifery at Auckland University of Technology and is also a self-employed midwife. Her current professional memberships include the New Zealand Perintal Society of New Zealand and the New Zealand College of Midwives.
Jan Carey
Jan Carey has been appointed as the industry representative for the compliance panel. She is the current executive director of both the New Zealand Infant Formula Marketers' Association (NZIFMA) and the Infant Formula Manufacturers Association of Australia (IFMAA). Jan Carey is also a co-founder of the Australian and New Zealand Stillbirth Alliance and until recently a member of the Executive Board of the International Stillbirth Alliance.