An opinion on the Pakistan Medical Association’s milk awareness campaign, discussing raw milk, packaged milk, dairy farmers, food security, and milk quality in Pakistan. Article of Dr Jassar Aftab abot Campaign against Loose Milk.

At the beginning of last year, an advertising campaign was launched by the Pakistan Medical Association. This campaign stopped for some time, but in the last few days, it has resumed. There is no doubt that the public should be provided with quality and clean milk, but there should also be no doubt that only real and animal-derived milk should be provided to the public and not fake milk sold in the name of clean milk.

The Role of the Pakistan Medical Association

The Pakistan Medical Association, as a professional organization, should talk about better quality of milk. A campaign should be run regarding cleanliness at dairy farms. An appeal should be made for better arrangements at milk vendors’ shops. Better handling of milk should be discussed at the household level.

The association should put pressure on the government to make arrangements to check the quality of milk sold in Pakistan. In this regard, better performance of the relevant institutions should be ensured. It should not be the job of the association to start promoting a particular product in comparison to a product in the market, which is the basis of the country’s economy, even though both are in direct competition.

Questions About Packaged Milk

How can the Pakistan Medical Association guarantee that the milk in the packet is of the best quality or that the milk being sold in the packet is genuine and obtained from animals? On the other hand, how can the Pakistan Medical Association guarantee that the raw milk used for years across Pakistan is dirty everywhere and in every case. Since raw milk is a poor man’s product, it is easy to target it, but on the other hand…!!!!

The Pakistan Medical Association, which is advocating packaged milk and running a campaign to make the nation hate raw milk, should be aware of whether each packet contains real milk. They should ask the packers for data to tell the source of the milk they pack. The Pakistan Medical Association should also be aware of who is ordering and where the substandard dry milk and whey powder that is allegedly smuggled and imported into Pakistan is being used.

The Importance of Small Dairy Farmers

It should be clear that Pakistan has a large number of cows and buffaloes spread across the length and breadth of the country. More than 80 percent of those who keep these animals have ten or fewer animals, while a large number have two to five animals.

This is followed by the number of large traditional farmers, while the share of corporate and commercial dairy farms in the production system is very small. These are the small and medium-sized farmers who are the basis of the supply of real milk across the country. They are not only the basis of supply, but they are their basic and most important part in the country’s economy. If someone wants to pack milk and sell it, he will have to buy milk from this system, provided that he wants to pack real milk.

Loose Milk in Pakistan

It should also be clear that the use of open milk is a tradition in Pakistan. A person buying milk in the streets knows what quality milk he is buying and how much he is paying for it. All kinds of milk are available in the market in both loose and packaged forms. People buy milk according to their financial capacity and personal preferences.

The Cost of Packaging

If the Pakistan Medical Association is to be believed, then all kinds of food and drink items in Pakistan should be sold in packaging. How will the poor nation, which is hungry for bread, pay the additional cost of packaging? Moreover, packaging also means handing over food and drink items to capitalists and industrialists.

Concerns About Market Competition and Food Security

The Pakistan Medical Association’s promotion of a particular product in the market over another product is tantamount to influencing the market system and benefiting a particular group. This is a campaign against livestock farmers in Pakistan, which will have a direct impact on national food security. Such an advertising campaign is a big question mark for the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Food Authorities, Provincial Livestock Department, PEMRA and the Competition Commission of Pakistan.

A Call for Government Attention

The Prime Minister of Pakistan is requested to take notice of this activity. It should be seen from where the Pakistan Medical Association is getting funding for these advertisements. If the association is running advertisements from its own budget, then what is the source of the association’s funds? It will have to be seen whether there is any cartel or mafia behind this advertisement running on television and the internet!