The drinks retailer responsible for brands including Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and Guinness is to fund training for 10,000 midwives to help pregnant women reduce their alcohol intake as part of a project that has been criticised by medical authorities.
The Department of Health scheme will be run by the National Organisation for Foetal Alcohol Syndrome UK (Nofas-UK) but funded by the drinks retailer Diageo.
The government hopes the initiative – part of a plan to involve the private sector in public health campaigns – will help more than a million expectant mothers over three years.
But the scheme has been criticised by the British Medical Association (BMA) as a potential "conflict of interest". The BMA said doctors were so concerned by government moves to involve big business, charities and the retail sector in the drive to help people lead healthier lives that they planned to bring a motion against it at the association's annual conference later this month.
Government guidelines encourage pregnant women to avoid drinking alcohol. If they do drink, however, they are advised to drink only one to two units once or twice a week.
According to the UK infant feeding survey 2005, 34% of women give up drinking while they are pregnant and 61% drink less. Just 4% do not change their drinking pattern.
"Midwives are one of the most trusted sources of information and advice for pregnant women," the public health minister, Anne Milton, said. "This pledge is a great example of how business can work with NHS staff to provide women with valuable information."
Diageo's investment is part of the government's controversial "responsibility deal" on public health in England. Six major independent health groups have refused to be involved in the scheme, including Alcohol Concern, the BMA and the Royal College of Physicians.
They question whether it is right to conflate corporate responsibility with public health, citing examples where they fear the industry has dictated policy, and where pledges simply replicate existing standards.
The Diageo initiative will build on training already delivered across five cities in the past two years. Susan Fleisher, from Nofas-UK, said the scheme would have huge benefits.
But Prof Anna Gilmore, a public health expert from Bath University, said there was a fundamental conflict of interest in the "responsibility deal". She said: "These large corporations, whether they sell tobacco, food or alcohol, are legally obliged to maximise shareholder returns. They therefore have to oppose any policies that could reduce sales and profitability – in other words, the most effective policies."
