The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) is a network of people working on a global scale to eliminate obstacles to

breastfeeding Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the process where breast milk is fed to a child. Infants may suck the milk directly from the breast, or milk may be extracted with a Breast pump, pump and then fed to the infant. The World Health Orga ...

and to act on the

Innocenti Declaration Innocenti () was an Italian machinery works, originally established by Ferdinando Innocenti in 1933 in Lambrate, a neighborhood on the eastern outskirts of Milan. Over the years, they produced Lambretta scooters as well as a range of automobiles, ...

. The groups within this alliance tackle the problems from a variety of perspectives or point of views, such as consumer advocates,

mothers A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestat ...

, and

lactation Lactation describes the secretion of milk from the mammary glands and the period of time that a mother lactates to feed her young. The process naturally occurs with all sexually mature female mammals, although it may predate mammals. The process ...

consultants. Among the various organizations and individuals involved in the creation of WABA, Derrick and Pat Jelliffe, two experts in tropical

paediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

and infant

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemistry, biochemical and physiology, physiological process by which an organism uses food and water to support its life. The intake of these substances provides organisms with nutrients (divided into Macronutrient, macro- ...

, were instrumental in its founding and in the launching of some of its more visible early initiatives. WABA organises the ''

World Breastfeeding Week World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is an annual celebration which is held every year from 1 to 7 August in more than 120 countries. According to the 26 August data of ''WBW'' website, 540 events have been held worldwide by more than 79 countries wit ...

'', held annually August 1 through the 7th, to put together the efforts of all breastfeeding

advocates An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. Howeve ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

s, and the public in more than 170 countries.

Campaigns

Several campaigns are associated with the WABA: 1991 to present - The

Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), also known as Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI), is a worldwide programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), launched in 1992 in India UNICEFThe Baby- ...

(BFHI) is a joint campaign by

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

and the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

, and focuses mainly on

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

practices, implementing the principles of the

. 1993 - This campaign tackled the problem of developing mother-friendly

workplace A workplace is a location where someone works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a home office to a large office building or factory. For industrialized societies, the workplace is one of the ...

s. In general, they wanted mothers to be able to combine breastfeeding with their working atmosphere. 1994 - The main focus of the '94 campaign was to implement again the

International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes The International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (also known as the WHO Code) is an international health policy framework for breastfeeding promotion adopted by the World Health Assembly (WHA) of the World Health Organization (WHO) in ...

in all countries to meet the demands of the Innocenti Declaration.

International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes

'' (Rules for industries,

health workers Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, pain ...

, and governments to regulate the promotion of

baby In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to Juvenile (orga ...

products through

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

): # No

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

of any of these

product Product may refer to: Business * Product (business), an item that can be offered to a market to satisfy the desire or need of a customer. * Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution ...

s to the public. # No

free samples A product sample is a sample of a consumer product that is given to the consumer free of cost so that they may try a product before committing to a purchase. When it comes to marketing non-durable commodities, such as food items, sampling is cru ...

to mothers. # No promotion of products in

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

facilities, including the distribution of free or low-cost supplies. # No company sales representatives to advise mothers. # No gifts or personal samples to health workers. # No words or pictures idealizing artificial feeding, or pictures of infants on

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

s of infant

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

containers. # Information to health workers should be

scientific Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and factual. # All information on artificial infant feeding, including that on labels, should explain the benefits of breastfeeding, and the costs and hazards associated with artificial feeding. # Unsuitable products, such as sweetened

condensed milk Condensed milk is Milk#Cow, cow's milk from which water has been removed (roughly 60% of it). It is most often found with sugar added, in the form of sweetened condensed milk, to the extent that the terms "condensed milk" and "sweetened condensed m ...

, should not be promoted for babies. # Manufacturers and distributors should comply with the Code's provisions even if countries have not adopted laws or other measures.

References

External links

* ''World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action'
Website
*

br>Website
{{Authority control Breastfeeding organizations Medical and health organisations based in Malaysia International medical and health organizations Child-related organisations in Malaysia