OUTCOME OF THE
58 TH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY,
GENEVA MAY 16-25, 2005
Babies need no longer wait
On May 25, the 58th World Health Assembly adopted an important resolution (WHA 58.32) on infant and young child nutrition, the eleventh resolution following the landmark International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in 1981.
This resolution had been the subject of much controversy and debate for over seventeen months, and followed four discussions and two open-ended working groups, with over 50 countries making statements to stress the importance of the issues during the May 2005 Assembly. The length of this process illustrates what was at stake: first, the new resolution impacts the multi-billion dollar turnover and profits of the baby food industry by attempting to deal with marketing practices such as health and nutrition claims and sponsorship, and second, the resolution addresses the rights of parents and caregivers to accurate information about the quality of breastmilk substitutes for the small proportion of babies who cannot be breastfed.
At the end of the 57 th Assembly in May 2004, when the draft resolution was deferred to 2005, press headlines ran: "Babies will have to wait". The delegate of Palau, one of the countries which proposed this original resolution, said on hearing that consideration of the resolution was postponed until 2005: "Justice delayed is justice denied". The wait is now over, and the final text of the new resolution does bring a degree of justice to the world's youngest populations. However, the text is the result of concessions and compromise, and in some sections, it weakens the strong intent of the original resolution as first proposed in May 2004. The task is now to ensure that the provisions of the resolution are implemented at national level in a way that will protect infant health.
The final text of the resolution urges Member States to take action in four key areas, all in the context of the continued protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding in the Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding (adopted under Resolution 55.25):
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to ensure that nutrition and health claims are not permitted for breastmilk substitutes, except where specifically provided for in national legislation ;
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to ensure that financial support and other incentives for programmes and health professionals do not create conflicts of interests ;
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to ensure that research contains declarations of conflicts of interest and is subject to independent peer review ;
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to alert to intrinsic contamination of powdered infant formula by Enterobacter sakazakii and other pathogens.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission is requested to reflect WHO policy in its global standard setting, specifically the International Code and its subsequent, relevant resolutions. |
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