WHA RESOLUTION 34.22
The Thirty-fourth World Health Assembly,
Recognizing the importance of sound
infant and young child nutrition for the future health
and development of the child and adult;
Recalling that breastfeeding is the
only natural method of infant feeding and that it must
be actively protected and promoted in all countries;
Convinced that governments of Member
States have important responsibilities and a prime role
to play in the protection and promotion of breastfeeding
as a means of improving infant and young child health;
Aware of the direct and indirect effects
of marketing practices for breastmilk substitutes on infant
feeding practices;
Convinced that the protection and
promotion of infant feeding, including the regulation
of the marketing of breastmilk substitutes, affect
infant and young child health directly and profoundly,
and are a problem of direct concern to WHO;
Having considered the draft International
Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes prepared
by the Director-General and forwarded to it by the Executive
Board;
Expressing its gratitude to the Director-General
and to the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's
Fund for all the steps they have taken in ensuring close
consultation with Member States and with all other parties
concerned in the process of preparing the draft International
Code;
Having considered the recommendation
made thereon by the Executive Board at its sixty-seventh
session;
Confirming resolution WHA33.32, including
the endorsement in their entirety of the statement and
recommendations made by the joint WHO/UNICEF Meeting on
Infant and Young Child Feeding held from 9 to 12 October
1979;
Stressing that the adoption of
and adherence to the International
Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes is a minimum
requirement and only one of several important actions
required in order to protect healthy practices in respect
of infant and young child feeding;
1. ADOPTS, in the sense of Article
23 of the Constitution, the International Code of Marketing
of Breastmilk Substitutes annexed to the present resolution;
2. URGES all Member States:
(1) to give full and unanimous
support to the implementation of the recommendations
made by the joint WHO/UNICEF Meeting on Infant and Young
Child Feeding and of the provisions of the International
Code in its entirety as an expression of the collective
will of the membership of the World Health Organization;
(2) to translate the International
Codeinto national legislation, regulations or other
suitable measures;
(3) to involve all concerned
social and economic sectors and all other concerned
parties in the implementation of the International Code
and in the observance of the provisions thereof;
(4) to monitor the compliance
with the Code;
3. DECIDES that the follow-up to and
review of the implementation of this resolution shall
be undertaken by regional committees, the Executive Board
and the Health Assembly in the spirit of resolution WHA33.17;
4. REQUESTS the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius
Commission to give full consideration, within the framework
of its operational mandate, to action it might take to
improve the quality standards of infant foods, and to
support and promote the implementation of the International
Code;
5. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to give all possible support
to Member States, as and when requested, for the implementation
of the International Code, and in particular in the
preparation of national legislation and other measures
related thereto in accordance with operative subparagraph
6(6) of resolution WHA33.32;
(2) to use his good offices for
the continued cooperation with all parties concerned
in the implementation and monitoring of the International
Code at country, regional and global levels;
(3) to report to the Thirty-sixth
World Health Assembly on the status of compliance with
and implementation of the Code at country, regional
and global levels;
(4) based on the conclusions of
the status report, to make proposals, if necessary,
for revision of the text of the Code and for the measures
needed for its effective application.
21 May 1981
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