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Implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Thursday, 3rd of May 2018

East Mediterr Health J. 2018 Apr 5;24(1):25-32.

Implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Al Jawaldeh A¹, Sayed G².

Author information

1

World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt.

2

International Baby Food Action Network Arab World Coordinator, Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

in English, Arabic, French

BACKGROUND:

Optimal breastfeeding practices and appropriate complementary feeding improve child health, survival and development. The countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region have made significant strides in formulation and implementation of legislation to protect and promote breastfeeding based on The International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (the Code) and subsequent relevant World Health Assembly resolutions.

AIM:

To assess the implementation of the Code in the Region.

METHODS:

Assessment was conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean using a WHO standard questionnaire.

RESULTS:

Seventeen countries in the Region have enacted legislation to protect breastfeeding. Only 6 countries have comprehensive legislation or other legal measures reflecting all or most provisions of the Code; 4 countries have legal measures incorporating many provisions of the Code; 7 countries have legal measures that contain a few provisions of the Code; 4 countries are currently studying the issue; and only 1 country has no measures in place. Further analysis of the legislation found that the text of articles in the laws fully reflected the Code articles in only 6 countries.

CONCLUSION:

Most countries need to revisit and amend existing national legislation to implement fully the Code and relevant World Health Assembly resolutions, supported by systematic monitoring and reporting.

Copyright © World Health Organization (WHO) 2018. Some rights reserved. This work is available under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo).