Lactation Newsmakers: Elaine Petitat-Côté: Making Good Use of Two UN Conventions to Advocate for Breastfeeding Rights.

Elaine Petitat-Côté was born in Canada and has lived for the greatest part of her life in Geneva. She has consistently worked with development, health, and women's organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), advocating for a public health approach to medicine that considers the social and economic realities of communities, and emphasizes the creation of healthy living conditions to ensure long-term, sustainable health outcomes This perspective supports a horizontal approach to medicine, in contrast to the narrower, vertical approach typically employed. As a member of the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) she worked for the Geneva Infant Feeding Association (GIFA) on two main issues related to breastfeeding: maternity protection at work, and the rights of children to the highest attainable standard of health and nutrition, in particular by protecting breastfeeding.