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IBFAN at Work
Several examples of the work of IBFAN groups were mentioned: the collaboration in Argentina of the Buenos Aires provincial breastfeeding program; in Albania the Group for the Protection and Promotion of Breastfeeding serves as a centre for child feeding expertise; in Brazil, Canada, Guatemala, Mauritius, Pakistan and Uruguay the groups place particular emphasis on Code implementation, related marketing research and public information activities; national surveys in Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon and Senegal to monitor International Code implementation show numerous violations even where national measures are adopted.
Elisabeth Sterken, IBFAN Convenor, addressed the assembly as member of the Consumer's International delegation. She urged the WHO to maintain a strict independence. Current trends for partnerships with the private sector have seen the infant food industry attempting to forge links with UN agencies, especially in the area of HIV and infant feeding. She expressed IBFAN's deep concerns that "private sector sponsored research and offers of free supplies of baby milk, might weaken measures for the protection of breastfeeding. ...Partnerships," she stated, "should be amongst those who share common values and principles. Companies that compete with breastfeeding are not appropriate partners."
Further, IBFAN urged WHA action to strengthen International Code implementation. In its address to the Assembly, IBFAN cited the progress made in establishing effective measures to implement the International Code, as documented in its 1998 report, State of the Code by Country. It showed that 20 countries have enacted laws, decrees or other legal enforceable measures, 27 have enacted many of the Code's provisions as law, 21 countries have implemented the entire Code as a voluntary measure or as a national policy and another 22 are currently drafting regulations based on the International Code and Resolutions. IBFAN’s monitoring report, Breaking the Rules, 1998, and other monitoring reports showed that in nearly every participating country the major manufacturers of breastmilk substitutes do not comply with the requirements as set out by the World Health Assembly. IBFAN noted that the report gave "evidence of deliberate, extensive and systematic violations of the International Code which continue to put infant and young child health at risk." We also reported that the scope of the products being promoted had increased to include toddler milks, specialized baby formulas, baby drinks, and even formula for breastfeeding mothers. In conclusion Sterken stated IBFAN's pleasure in having worked with WHO for the past two decades and looks forward to continuing an even closer co-operation over the next decade.
IBFAN's Code Documentation Centre in Malaysia has provided International Code training for more than 300 government policy-makers and others in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Western Pacific; has produced training materials, including the Model Law, to assist governments in translating the International Code into national law. IBFAN Africa * has trained health care workers and others in the management of lactation and the implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. IBFAN Code Documentation Centre
IBFAN's involvement as Observer delegates at the joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) is co-ordinated by the Dutch IBFAN group WEMOS. The revision of two infant feeding standards (infant formula and cereal-based complementary foods) provides the opportunity to ensure that the health and nutritional needs of infants and young children are of prime consideration by Member States. IBFAN objectives include the revision of the scope of the standards and the labelling measures. Both sections should comply with the provisions of the International Code. In addition, the opportunity to improve the nutritional quality and safety needs are also on the agenda of the Codex Working Group. At the recent meeting of the CCNFSDU, IBFAN members lobbied for the inclusion of the International Code under the scope of the infant formula standard, and the age of introduction of complementary foods to be at "about six months" as recommended by World Health Assembly Resolutions 47.5 and 49.15. The heavy presence of lobbyists for the infant foods industry makes the participation of consumer-based organizations essential. WEMOS Foundation
Sixty-two delegates from 23 countries met in Split, Croatia, from 22 to 24 October 1998 to discuss infant feeding in emergencies - war, famine, natural disasters, disease. Topics discussed included training, policy, research needs, and how to integrate infant feeding in emergencies into existing national policies and priorities, both institutional and governmental. Participants from various IBFAN organizations, aid agencies, non-governmental organizations, social service organizations, health care workers, policy makers and representatives from WHO and UNICEF, discussed the protection of breastfeeding and the establishment of breastfeeding cultures as vital components in measures dealing with this topic. Baby Milk Action, Ireland
Several IBFAN groups from countries under review have submitted reports to the Committee on the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). IBFAN-GIFA staff have followed up these reports by lobbying Committee members during sessions in Geneva. With information provided by IBFAN, Committee members can question government representatives about code implementation and breastfeeding. IBFAN groups from the Czech Republic, Togo, Ireland, Luxembourg, Hungary, Bolivia, Sweden, Armenia and the Russian Federation reported to the CRC. IBFAN's article, 'The International Baby Food Action Network: Defending every child's birthright', on the protection of the child's right "to the highest attainable standard of health," is published in the International Journal of Children's Rights, 1997; 5: 473-498, is available from IBFAN-GIFA
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At
the World Health Assembly (WHA) May 1998, IBFAN was cited in
the WHO report entitled, The International Code of Marketing
of Breast-milk Substitutes: A summary of action taken by WHO
Member States and other interested parties, 1994-1998, for its
work on Code implementation and Code monitoring.
IBFAN
urges WHO independence