Human Milk Banks in Brazil

This article reports on the undertaking of the Instituto Fernandes Figueira/Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) in Rio de Janeiro Brazil to establish guidelines for human milk banking procedures with public health oversight to guarantee maximum quality. The reason why such guidelines were needed is because of the disorganization and non-uniformity of standards among human milk banking which further resulted in lack of quality. Furthermore the scientific and medical community lacked knowledge about human milk and its properties. The result of the FIOCRUZ effort was a public health law that included all the steps to establish and operate a donor milk bank in Brazil. Also under the control of the National Human Milk Bank Committee there is a national reference bank at FIOCRUZ in Rio de Janeiro which acts as the information center and oversees national networking among human milk banks (HMBs). FIOCRUZ has come a long way since the 1980s. National meetings of HMBs were held and 3 congresses held simultaneously in Brasilia have resulted to the enhancement of quality and knowledge among professionals involved. In fact HMBs in Brazil have served as the foundation for implementing the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative. The success of the HMBs in Brazil can only be credited to these key factors: effective coordination monitoring and investment in training human resources at different levels.