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DUARTE, Calif., Sept. 2, 2021 – Prolacta Bioscience® , the world’s leading hospital provider of 100% human milk-based nutritional products for premature and critically ill infants, will host a panel session on human milk safety at the virtual 2021 National Coalition for Infant Health Summit (NCfIH) on September 2, 2021, at 2:05 p.m. ET.
Titled “The Liquid Gold Standard: Keeping Donor Milk Safe,” the panel will discuss the rapidly growing, yet largely underregulated, donor human milk industry and the need for greater quality and safety standards to protect the fragile infants who receive this life-saving nutrition. Panelists will include Martha A. Dawson, DND, MSN, RN, FACHE, associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, and president of the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA); and Scott Eaker, chief operations officer for Prolacta.
“Currently, there are no uniform quality and safety standards for the collection of donated human milk or the specific challenges of manufacturing human milk-based products,” Eaker said. “This poses safety risks to preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) because human milk is a biologic substance and can transmit harmful viruses, bacteria, and toxins to the infants who consume it.”
At the summit, Prolacta will encourage industry support for the establishment of uniform quality and safety standards and practices to safeguard all donor human milk in the United States.
“Premature infants who rely on human milk-based products for vital nutrition deserve safe milk that has been properly tested and manufactured,” said Carolyn TenEyck, RN, Prolacta’s director of advocacy and government affairs. “Human milk is medicine for sick and premature newborns, so we want to help educate others and start the dialogue around the importance of prioritizing safety in donor human milk products.”
The annual National Coalition for Infant Health Summit welcomes healthcare providers, parents, policymakers, advocates, and other stakeholders to explore policy solutions to improve the health and lives of infants and their families. Co-hosted by the Institute for Patient Access and the Alliance for Patient Access, the summit will include a series of panel discussions, presentations, and interviews. Topics will include safety and innovation for neonates, nutrition and safety of the growing human donor milk market, disparities in newborn rare diseases, and perspectives from the Asian, Black, Hispanic, and LGBTQ+ communities.
To register for the NCfIH summit, visit infanthealth.org/register.
About the National Coalition for Infant Health
The National Coalition for Infant Health is a collaborative of professional, clinical, community health, and family support organizations that uses education and advocacy to promote patient-centered care for premature infants and their families. NCfIH envisions safe, healthy infants whose families can access the information, care, and treatment their babies need.
About Prolacta Bioscience
Prolacta Bioscience® Inc. is a privately held, global life sciences company dedicated to Advancing the Science of Human Milk® to improve the health of premature and critically ill infants. Prolacta's 100% human milk-based nutritional products have been evaluated in more than 20 clinical trials published in peer-reviewed journals. More than 70,000 premature infants have benefited from Prolacta’s nutritional products worldwide to date.1 Established in 1999, Prolacta is the world’s leading provider of human milk-based nutritional products for hospital use and is also exploring the therapeutic potential of human milk across a wide spectrum of diseases. Prolacta maintains the industry’s strictest quality and safety standards for screening, testing, and processing human donor milk. Operating the world’s first pharmaceutical-grade human milk processing facilities, Prolacta uses vat pasteurization and a patented, FDA-reviewed manufacturing process to ensure pathogen inactivation while protecting the nutritional composition and bioactivity of its human milk-based products. Prolacta is a global company with headquarters in Duarte, California, and can be found online at www.prolacta.com, on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Media Contact:
Loren Kosmont
Lkosmont@prolacta.com
310-721-9444
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