Not breastfeeding has significant health and economic impacts. The Cost of Not Breastfeeding Tool is an evidence-based modeling tool that uses open-access data to estimate the health and economic costs of not protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding.

This brief by Nutrition International and Alive & Thrive provides key findings from the updated and expanded Cost of Not Breastfeeding tool, including summaries of the costs by region and country case studies for China,

In 2019, UNICEF, the World Health Organization and Alive & Thrive launched a regional campaign to increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding across West Africa - the Stronger With Breastmilk Only initiative.

Alive & Thrive's implementation research spans its program areas, seeking to answer "how" to implement effective interventions and policies. Active studies are detailed in the attached documents.

Not breastfeeding leads to more than half a million child deaths annually and costs the world economy up to US$1 billion a day.