In: Economics
Milk banks pasteurize the breast milk and sell it. Yet milk banks are running out of milk. Why? What solution would you propose?
How would you solve problem of contamination risk in the breast milk market?
Ms. Sakamoto of the Mother’s Milk Bank notes that studies show that breast milk sold on the breast milk markets risks being contaminated with cow milk. She says "these studies show that if moms are paid for their breast milk, these are the kind of problems we will see." Explain using economic thinking.
ANSWER:
Pasteurize breast milk is especially important for premature or sick babies who are more likely to develop intestinal infections if they are given formula instead of breast milk. Breast milk is donated to babies whose mothers are unable to breast-feed their babies due to certain reasons like delay of their own milk supply, insufficient supply of milk for their babies or due to some medical conditions they are unable to supply milk to their own babies.
Looking at the huge demands for breast milk, many companies
established milk banks to procure milk from donors, pasteurize and
then supply the babies who need it badly on the basis of a medical
prescription. There are also milk banks who are sometimes running
out of milk due to many reasons: In urban areas mothers are more
aware of milk banks, they come forward in large numbers to donate
milk to milk banks, but still sometimes when they come across
medical professionals who don't support breastfeeding may create
obstacles for the donation of milk. Excessive marketing from
formula manufacturers create barriers to the donation and receipt
of milk. On the grounds of cultural and religious complexities,
many women are reluctant to donate milk. Surveys say 90% of women
do not aware of milk banks or donors' milk, they don't know it
could be a method to save their premature and sick child's life.
Lastly, in most of the rural parts of many countries, women are
unknown of this system of milk bank. All these lead to milk
deficiencies in milk banks.
In my opinion, the best solution is creating awareness among the women about the benefits of breast milk for a newborn and they must understand the situations of a mother who are unable to breast-feed their premature and sick child. Mother's milk is the right of a child, it should not be stopped in any way. Most people are making it a political issue, they often biased women. To handle this, all women should be properly educated about the benefits and results of donation of breast milk to a needy child. They should go above all the social, political and religious barriers to save a child's life.
The problem of contamination risk in the breast milk market can be
solved by thorough testing of collected milk. Generally, all milk
banks follow the following steps to make the donors' milk bacteria
free.
Frozen donor milk is melted, nutritionally analyzed,
cultured,pooled and poured into bottles, then pasteurized at 62.5 C
in a shaking water bath or automatic pasteurizer. Pasteurized milk
is quickly cooled, then frozen at -20'C. There are also some
independent laboratories who conducts microbiological cultures from
individual donors' deposits prior to pasteurization and pooling,
and from each batch of milk after pasteurization. This process
verifies that there are no heat-resistant pathogens before
pasteurization and the growth of bacteria after the heating process
is zero.
If all the milk banks are following the above steps genuinely, then
there will be no risk of contamination in the breast milk
market.