Fact Sheet

NWA Statement on the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes

By National WIC Association

Adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1981, the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes was ratified by more than 100 nations and joined by the United States in consensus Resolutions in 1994 and again in 1996. The aim of this Code is “to contribute to the provision of safe and adequate nutrition for infants, by the protection and promotion of breastfeeding, and by ensuring the proper use of breast-milk substitutes, when these are necessary, on the basis of adequate information and through appropriate marketing and distribution.” Any activity that undermines breastfeeding violates the aim and spirit of the Code.

The National WIC Association endorses the WHO Code and assumes a leadership role in supporting the recommendations in the Code through the WIC Program.

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Date Added
April 24, 2019

Citation
National WIC Association (2011). Available online: https://media.nwica.org/who-international-code-2018.pdf