Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Healthworkers Guide to the Code: Protecting Infant Health

This is a guide to the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent, relevant Resolutions of the World Health Assembly and the importance of promoting and protecting breastfeeding, designed for health workers of any country.

The contents are:

  • Foreword
  • Introduction and Background
  • Why a Marketing Code?
  • How was the International Code developed?
  • Summary of the International Code
  • What can Health Workers do to make the Code work?
  • Detailed examination of some of the important provisions of the Code
  • Keeping the Code up to date
  • HIV, Infant Feeding and the Code
  • How the Infant Food Industry views the Code
  • The Innocenti Declaration
  • Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
  • Health Workers in Action
  • The International Code (text in full)
  • World Health Assembly Resolutions
  • International Code Documentation Centre
  • Useful Addresses and Resources
It contains black and white photograhs, examples of marketing and cartoons.

Here is a sample:

----Extract
Health workers have a responsibility to protect and promote breastfeeding

Those who work most closely with mothers and infants should study and discuss the International Code, especially the information intended for mothers and listed in Article 4.2.

No promotion to health workers

Only scientific and factual information about infant feeding products may be supplied to health workers by companies.

All this information should include the points set out in Article 4.2.

This information should emphasise that breastfeeding is far superior to artificial infant feeding.
----extract ends

[Cartoon baby] "I was on starter formula. Then continuation formula. And I hope to graduate to the advanced formula. I'm working my way up the corporate ladder!"

If you have used the guide, leave your comments here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Keep up the good work.