This brief describes how six Health Care Professional Associations (HCPA), in different countries and years, carried out a process that led to an end of their collaboration with companies that market foods for infants and young children as far as sponsorship of HCPA events are concerned. The six case studies were drafted by members of […]
This brief offers suggestions as to how a healthcare association can fund educational programmes, congresses, conferences, and other meetings without sponsorship by companies that market foods for infants and young children. To organize an effective and financially viable meeting, careful planning is an important start. Meeting goals of advocacy, education, networking, and social engagement can […]
Sponsorship of health professional associations by manufacturers and distributors of commercial milk formula: model policy. Sponsorship is a commercial transaction in which financial or in-kind contributions made to a person, event, project, or activity aim to generate goodwill for a brand among a group of people who can influence purchasing behaviour in others and promote […]
This report provides updated information on the status of implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (BMS) and subsequent relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions (collectively referred to as “the Code”) in countries. It presents the legal status of the Code, including the extent to which the provisions of the Code have […]
A new WHO report on the marketing of breast-milk substitutes in Morocco has been published in French: ‘La façon dont le marketing des substituts du lait maternel influence nos décisions en matière d’alimentation des nourrissons: Rapport sur le Maroc’. For decades, women have been the main targets of breast-milk substitute marketing. The strategies used aim […]
What I Should Know About ‘the Code’ A guide to implementation, compliance and identifying violations. UNICEF 2023 Packed with clear, accessible information, this 20-page guide consolidates the provisions of the Code, WHA resolutions, and the Guidance in one place. It outlines main provisions of these documents and provides specific guidance for four key audiences: governments; […]
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are responsible for nearly 90% of deaths and 85% of years lived with disability in the WHO European Region. To intensify efforts to tackle these dise ases, the Regional Director of the WHO Regional Office for Europe established the Advisory Council on Innovation for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD Advisory Council) in December 2020. […]
WHO Status report 2022 on the national implementation of the International Code. While promotion of breastmilk substitutes using unethical marketing practices continues throughout the world, many countries are fighting back. (May 12, 2022)
Scope and impact of digital marketing strategies for promoting breastmilk substitutes (April 28, 2022) https://www.gifa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/9789240046085-eng.pdf
How the marketing of formula milk influences our decisions on infant feeding. – Marketing a 55 billion dollar formula milk industry. (February 22, 2022) See also our News Post Multi-country-study-examining-the-impact-of-BMS-marketing-on-infant-feeding-decisions-and-practices-UNICEF-WHO-2022Download
Effective regulatory frameworks for ending inappropriate marketing of breastmilk substitutes and foods for infants and young children in the WHO European RegionThis Policy Brief is intended to guide Member States in the WHO European Region as they embark on the vital task of safeguarding parents and caregivers from all forms of promotion of breastmilk substitutes […]
The aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes creates a major barrier to breastfeeding. Following the adoption of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes in 1981, governments have been called upon repeatedly by the World Health Assembly to give effect to the provisions in the Code through national legislation. Questions have sometimes been raised on […]
Working document, based on ILO database on Maternity Protection, sorted region by region and country by country
Globally, about 50 million children less than 5 years are wasted (too thin) at any one time; of these, over 17 million are severely wasted. These children are at high risk of death or may suffer from diseases and complications that will greatly affect their future life. Much more common is stunting (failure to achieve […]
This working paper gives an overview of the debate from the early efforts to formulate the UN Code of Conduct to the current initiative for a binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights. It particularly focuses on the responses by TNCs and their leading interest groups to the various UN initiatives, specifies the key actors and their objectives, and describes how many of their demands were ultimately reflected in governmental positions and UN decisions. The working paper ends with remarks on what could be done to counteract and reverse corporate influence on the UN human rights agenda.
Manufacturers continue to violate the International Code, despite numerous resolutions and repeated calls by the WHO and UNICEF for them to act ethically. This report (Breaking the Rules – Stretching the Rules BTR, 208 pages) highlights breaches around the world from October 2007 to October 2010. Press Release IBFAN PressRelease 12-5-11 1. BTR 2010-Exec Summary […]
Powdered infant formula (PIF) has been linked to cases of serious illness and death in infants due to Enterobacter sakazakii infections. PPNs can be contaminated with dangerous bacteria such as Enterobacter sakazakii and Salmonella enterica during the manufacturing process. Current manufacturing techniques do not allow the production of sterile PPN. During the preparation of these […]
Breaking the Rules (BTR) 2001 describes the evidence of violations collected during a 14-country survey of company compliance with the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and relevant World Health Assembly Resolutions. The monitoring results cover 16 transnational baby food companies and 13 manufacturers of bottles and teats. It is important to recognise that […]
