NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

A new report by the WHO, UNICEF, and the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) has revealed that the status of laws to protect breastfeeding in most countries is inadequate.

Of the 194 countries analysed in the report, 135 have in place some form of legal measures related to the International code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes and subsequent, relevant resolutions adopted by the World Health Assembly.

The report which was made available to the Ghana News Agency on Monday by Olivia Lawe Davies, Communications Officer, WHO Geneva, said this was up from 103 in 2011, when the last WHO analysis was done.

The report, however, said only 39 countries have laws that enact all provisions of the Code—a slight increase from 37 in 2011.