23 May 2006: State of the Code by Country 2006
Babies deserve better
Twenty-five years ago, newspaper headlines recorded the sound and fury of the historic vote in the World Health Assembly when it adopted the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. 118 countries voted in unison in May 1981, to protect breastfeeding from aggressive marketing and isolated the USA as
the only country opposing the WHO/UNICEF Code under the pretext of defending commercial free speech. A quarter of a century later, it is time to take stock of where the world is now in protecting babies’ first food.
Globally, more than half the world’s nations have taken some type of action:
* 32 countries have enacted legislation which incorporates all or nearly all the provisions of the International Code.
* another 44 have laws which partially control the marketing of breastmilk substitutes and feeding bottles.
* 18 have a voluntary code or a public health policy encompassing nearly all provisions of the Code but lacking enforcement mechanisms.
* 22 have draft legislation waiting to be adopted.
These figures appear in a special Code anniversary report: the State of the Code by Country, 2006. The report is published by the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), a global non-governmental
coalition which has worked for more than 25 years to see Code implementation become a reality. “To ensure better child health, the first step is to level the playing field, to remove the competition, breastfeeding should not have to compete; only enforced legislation to curb the commercial promotion for substitutes can give
breastfeeding a real chance”, says Yeong Joo Kean, author of the report and Legal Advisor of the International Code Documentation Centre, (ICDC), a specialised office of IBFAN.
It is not an easy job because while the record by governments is remarkable, the baby food market shows hardly a dent. The annual turnover of the world wide market has in fact grown from some US$8 billion in 1981 to an estimated US$20 billion now. Companies pay lip-service to the Code but are not complying with all its provisions and still inventing clever new ways to win customers. A recent study in the UK showed that companies spend an annual average of £20 per baby on promotion while the government spends a paltry 14 pennies on promoting breastfeeding, proof of how the scales are tipped the wrong way.
Other things also have changed in the politics of breastfeeding, 25 years on. If the vote were to take place today, babies would almost certainly lose out against the power of the corporations. And yet, we now know
so much more than in the eighties. The science is clear: breastfeeding is the single most effective intervention for infant health. It provides optimal nutrition and protects against obesity, respiratory infections and diarrhoea; against allergies, skin disease and asthma, and studies moreover show that bottle-fed babies are just not as smart as their breastfed counterparts.
“The risks of artificial feeding must be highlighted”, declared participants at an international breastfeeding conference in Florence last November. Breastfeeding is no longer a priority for developing countries alone,
it needs to be protected, promoted and supported in earnest in all countries. “It is time to stop the lip-service, we must get real. If we don’t, future generations in many countries will end up with the child and adult obesity levels the USA is now struggling to contain”, says Annelies Allain, Director of the ICDC.
The State of the Code 2006 shows a remarkable record considering the fate of so many UN resolutions; it shows action by more than half the world’s governments including some very large countries, like Brazil and India. ICDC warns, however, that some nations, in particular those in the European Union are due for review and will most likely be downgraded because the EU Directive is too narrow in scope and has failed to incorporate the 11 subsequent resolutions which clarify the International Code and keep it up to date.
There have been revisions of the Directive but they have not been used to strengthen the measure.
The USA is one of the few countries where no legal action at all has been taken to implement the Code.
Lastly, ICDC warns that even in those countries with laws, enforcement sometimes is lacking altogether
or is insufficient. Manufacturers must be held accountable and stop interfering with breastfeeding.
In short, while we must congratulate courageous governments over considerable achievements against the odds, more needs to be done to protect the world’s most vulnerable citizens, the babies, wherever they live, they deserve better.
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For more information call :
Annelies Allain 079 574 1215
Lida Lhotska 079 5739016
IBFAN-GIFA: 022-7989164
* Official celebration of the Code anniversary organised by WHO:
Jeudi, 25 May, 18 h, Palais de l´ONU at Assembly Hall behind Plenary.
* Formal celebration of Code’s birth, survival and future on 30 May at OMM, Ave de la Paix 7bis, 17- 20h, -
by invitation only.
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