Monitoring and enforcement of legal measures adopted to protect breastfeeding
A desk review for West and Central Africa
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Highlights
While breastfeeding is the norm in the West and Central Africa Region (WCAR), exclusive breastfeeding rates in the region are among the lowest in the world at 37 percent (the global average is 48 percent) and less than half of all children are still breastfed at the age of 2 years.
The Stronger with Breastmilk Only initiative was launched in the region in November 2019 to propel greater action towards improving breastfeeding rates in the 24 countries. The initiative aims for West and Central Africa to achieve the global exclusive breastfeeding target of 50 per cent by 2025. Adopting and implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and related World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions (known together as “the Code”) is one of the essential actions that governments are urged to take towards meeting the 2025 goal. The Code was adopted in May 1981 by the World Health Assembly, which was concerned about the aggressive and often inappropriate marketing of breastmilk substitutes, which was contributing to an alarming decline in breastfeeding and the associated increased malnutrition, morbidity and mortality among infants and young children worldwide.
In 2016, the WHA adopted a resolution welcoming the WHO Guidance on Ending the Inappropriate Promotion of Foods for Infants and Young Children (Guidance), which encompasses 7 recommendations that countries should adopt as part of any legal measure to implement the Code. According to the most recent status report, as of March 2022, 144 of the 194 WHO Member States had adopted legal measures to implement at least some of the provisions in the Code. However, the absence of effective and sustainable on-going monitoring and enforcement is a major bottleneck in most of the countries in the region, and around the world.
