Topic(s): BMS Code, Breastfeeding
Location: Global
Language(s): English
Audience: Health and service providers, Media, Policy makers and legislators, Program designers and implementers, Public
Organization: WHO
Programs: Policy advocacy, Strategic use of data
Category: About the Code, Monitoring and reporting, Policy advocacy
This report provides updated information on the status of implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent relevant World Health Assembly resolutions (“the Code”) in and by countries.
It presents the legal status of the Code, including – where such information is available – the extent to which Code provisions have been incorporated in national legal measures. While the 2016 report focused on the status and quality of Code provisions at the global level, this report provides a regional perspective on the legal status of the Code. It highlights the status of a limited number of specific provisions that the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and
the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) consider to be particularly instrumental in addressing and eliminating inappropriate marketing of breast-milk substitutes, feeding bottles and teats. As a baseline assessment of the 2016 Guidance on ending inappropriate
promotion of foods for infants and young children (“the Guidance”), WHO, UNICEF and IBFAN also undertook a preliminary analysis of selected legal provisions in those countries where complementary foods are listed as designated products in their Code-related legislation.
