In this commentary published in BMJ Global Health, the authors cite a broad scoping review in asserting that despite being aware of their Code violations and how these create problems for countries, associations and individuals, the commercial milk formula industry continues to use health systems

Updated February 2022!

This quick guide summarizes the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (The Code) and relevant resolutions of the World Health Assembly that help protect breastfeeding around the globe.

Alive & Thrive has launched a special collection of resources on the BMS Code, featuring resources from various organizations around the world.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, policy makers and practitioners must learn from mistakes made during the HIV pandemic, when breastfeeding was undermined through isolating infants from their mothers, and formula feeding resulted in more infant deaths than the disease.

A billion dollars and two thousand lives, every day. This impactful study, which is the foundation for Alive and Thrive’s online tool, examines the human and economic costs of not breastfeeding.

Globally, nearly 600,000 children and nearly 100,000 women die each year due to inadequate breastfeeding. These preventable deaths, combined with cognitive losses, and health system costs of inadequate breastfeeding leads to over $340 billion in economic losses annually.