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From: jhh@ihldt.UUCP (John Haller)
Newsgroups: net.med,net.politics
Subject: Re: Milk in Sudan and Ethiopia
Message-ID: <2785@ihldt.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 8-Mar-85 14:46:38 EST
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Posted: Fri Mar  8 14:46:38 1985
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> Our local newspaper has an LA Times wire service story today
> that shows George Bush pouring milk for starving refugees
> of Ethiopia in Sudan.  I'm NOT going to comment on the 
> "propaganda" value of the phote, but I am going to question
> the wisdom of giving milk to African individuals, in light
> of the prevalance of lactose intolerance.
> 
> I don't have any hard and fast information myself, so I'm
> wondering if someone better informed would know what percentage
> of 5-10 year old kids in that area would be lactose intolerant,
> and what the results of lactose reaction are to a person who is
> suffering from advanced malnutrition.
> 

An interesting item heard on the radio recently is that recent studies
show that cow's milk contains some antibodies that help prevent
diarrhea, a major killer in third world countries.  This
antibody is not found in formula.