Formula milk will not be allowed for sale in the UAE unless it meets strict packaging rules under a law that supports a nationwide promotion of breastfeeding.
In April, the UAE Cabinet adopted a law that regulates the marketing of infant formula, banning its advertising and introducing mandatory labels that clarify it is not a substitute for breastfeeding.
Companies that fail to comply will have their products withdrawn from supermarkets and will be banned from marketing their products in the UAE for up to a year.
The company will also be charged the cost of any damages and have their trade licence suspended.
The law, which was drafted based on the World Health Organisation’s international code for marketing breast milk substitutes, aims to encourage mothers to breastfeed their children, rather than use baby formula.
Dr Ghada Sayed, Arab world regional co-ordinator of the International Baby Food Action Network and WHO consultant, said there was “heavy resistance” from companies that produce baby formula before the resolution passed.
“These companies make more money than pharmaceutical companies,” Dr Sayed said.
“They invite doctors on paid trips abroad to attend medical conferences so that ultimately, they prescribe their products.”
This practice is banned under the new law.
Dr Sayed said the decree would help the region because many of the formula companies were based in Dubai.
“Previously a majority of the paediatric conferences in Dubai were sponsored by these companies. This decree will help us throughout the region [because many companies are headquartered in Dubai]. It will force these milk companies to cease these activities,” Dr Al Sayed said.
Companies must now also include labels that say “breastfeeding is best” on their products and ensure their marketing does not suggest that formula milk is in any way similar to or more beneficial than breast milk.
All packaging information must also be accurate, up-to-date and scientifically accurate. The next phase will be to ban supermarkets from placing promotional offers on breast-milk substitutes. Mothers have the right make informed decision, Dr Sayed said.
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“We can’t allow these companies to claim that their product improves a child’s IQ and that it is better than breast milk,” she said.
Dr Sayed travelled to the UAE last month to host a workshop with companies and ministries that would be affected by the law to discuss how it would be implemented and enforced.
“It is a joint effort between the municipality and Ministry of Health to monitor supermarkets,” she said. “We are also counting on the community where anyone who sees a violation is encouraged to report it.
“It is important for the process to start.”
The law is the latest in a series of legislative changes that encourage women in the UAE to breastfeed their children for longer. In 2014, the UAE passed the Child Rights Law that made nursing mandatory.
An argument was made that breastfeeding was a "duty" and every infant should be entitled to be nursed as it was beneficial for health and built a strong bond between mother and child.
Also under UAE law, working mothers are entitled to two 30-minute breaks a day to breastfeed their child for the first 18 months.
Breastfeeding numbers in the UAE are lower than the global average. Figures from Unicef show only 34 per cent of mothers exclusively breastfeed their children under the age of six months. This puts the country at six per cent below the global average and 16 per cent below the World Health Assembly target of 50 per cent by 2025.
Globally, 45 per cent of mothers are still breastfeeding their children at the age of two, while in the UAE only 29 per cent of mothers do so.
Some women may choose not to breastfeed because of health, financial or emotional barriers. They may not have the support they need at work or at home that allows them the time to nurse their baby.
Others may not produce enough milk to exclusively feed the baby for the recommended six-month period.
Women are encouraged to nurse their children for up to three years.
Abu Dhabi’s main maternity centre, the Corniche Hospital, has been one of the major proponents of laws that encourage breastfeeding.
For years they have been encouraging mothers to nurse, through educational campaigns, workshops and by opening lactation clinics.
Gabriela Shaat, its lactation consultant, said the new law would stop companies from promoting their products in an “unethical way”.
“Simply by writing on formula milk that babies will sleep better if they use their products, that is unethical,” Ms Shaat said. She said mothers had told her companies approached them while they were out shopping and offered them samples of their product. Cost reduction is another reason some may choose to turn to baby formula.
“We asked about the barriers to not breastfeeding and discovered that companies have been visiting mothers, and visit doctors and give them free samples which they pass on to mothers,” Ms Shaat said.
“What happens after that is that the mother’s milk might dry up and the baby will get used to formula milk, so from a breastfeeding mother you now have a formula-fed baby.”
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Day 1 fixtures (Saturday)
Men 1.45pm, Malaysia v Australia (Court 1); Singapore v India (Court 2); UAE v New Zealand (Court 3); South Africa v Sri Lanka (Court 4)
Women Noon, New Zealand v South Africa (Court 3); England v UAE (Court 4); 5.15pm, Australia v UAE (Court 3); England v New Zealand (Court 4)
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Specs
Price, base: Dhs850,000
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 591bhp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.3L / 100km
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
List of alleged parties
May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff
May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'
Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff
Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party
Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters
Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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SPECS
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The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
THE BIO
Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.
Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.
Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.
Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Key Points
- Protests against President Omar Al Bashir enter their sixth day
- Reports of President Bashir's resignation and arrests of senior government officials
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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What you as a drone operator need to know
A permit and licence is required to fly a drone legally in Dubai.
Sanad Academy is the United Arab Emirate’s first RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) training and certification specialists endorsed by the Dubai Civil Aviation authority.
It is responsible to train, test and certify drone operators and drones in UAE with DCAA Endorsement.
“We are teaching people how to fly in accordance with the laws of the UAE,” said Ahmad Al Hamadi, a trainer at Sanad.
“We can show how the aircraft work and how they are operated. They are relatively easy to use, but they need responsible pilots.
“Pilots have to be mature. They are given a map of where they can and can’t fly in the UAE and we make these points clear in the lectures we give.
“You cannot fly a drone without registration under any circumstances.”
Larger drones are harder to fly, and have a different response to location control. There are no brakes in the air, so the larger drones have more power.
The Sanad Academy has a designated area to fly off the Al Ain Road near Skydive Dubai to show pilots how to fly responsibly.
“As UAS technology becomes mainstream, it is important to build wider awareness on how to integrate it into commerce and our personal lives,” said Major General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief, Dubai Police.
“Operators must undergo proper training and certification to ensure safety and compliance.
“Dubai’s airspace will undoubtedly experience increased traffic as UAS innovations become commonplace, the Forum allows commercial users to learn of best practice applications to implement UAS safely and legally, while benefitting a whole range of industries.”
