This is a dilemma that confronts Unicef, the UN Children's Fund, which for many years has loudly advertised the clear merits of mother's milk over formula. Because formula needs to be mixed with water, inevitably diarrhoea results when impure water is part of the mix.
Lethal dehydration is a frequent concomitant in very young children.
This is one of the reasons why Unicef launched its anti-formula campaign. Tarzie Vittachi, a distinguished Sri Lankan journalist of blessed memory who ran Unicef's public information office, was a convincing spokesman in what became a highly successful drive, to the chagrin of the formula makers. But all of this was pre-AIDS, of course. Our whole mandate is to keep children alive. But she makes it plain that Unicef has not let up in its advocacy for breastfeeding.