WBTi UK 2024 report parliamentary launch

On 24 June 2025, the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative UK 2024 report was launched in parliament, by a well-attended event hosted by Jess Brown-Fuller, MP. The evening was chaired by journalist Kate Quilton and included presentations by Helen Gray (from the WBTi UK Steering Group), Prof Nigel Rollins (Queens University, Belfast and previously with the WHO Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing) and Prof Amy Brown (Professor of Maternal and Child Health at Swansea University).

The event included critical discussions of the current challenges surrounding breastfeeding and infant feeding families in the UK are experiencing, together with recommendations that could help support families. The many gaps include a lack of an integrated infant feeding strategy, insufficient and wholly inadequately funded breastfeeding support together with weak regulations which currently allow rampant marketing of formula milks, and excessively high prices and profiteering by formula companies.

Image credit: from WBTi UK

The clear call to action from the event was for the UK and all devolved governments fully implement the recent recommendations from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) infant formula and follow-on formula market study.

The British Medical Journal (BMJ) published a news piece about the WBTi UK parliamentary launch, Formula milk: Overpriced and misleading products are risking child health, say campaigners. This BMJ piece reiterates the need for government action to protect families against the current high prices and misleading marketing of infant formula products that are exploiting parents and risking children’s health, due to weak regulations.

We eagerly await the formal government response to the CMA report.