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

breastfeeding Breastfeeding, or nursing, is the process by which human breast milk is fed to a child. Breast milk may be from the breast, or may be expressed by hand or pumped and fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that bre ...

and to act on the Innocenti Declaration. 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 gestati ...

, 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 proces ...

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

paediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

and infant

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient ...

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

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

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 called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to c ...

and the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

, and focuses mainly on

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

practices, implementing the principles of the Innocenti Declaration. 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 ...

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

International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes

'' International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes'' (Rules for industries,

health workers A health professional, healthcare professional, or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a nurse, physician ( ...

, and governments to regulate the promotion of

baby An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

products through

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

): # No

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

of any of these

product Product may refer to: Business * Product (business), an item that serves as a solution to a specific consumer problem. * Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution Mathematics * Produ ...

s to the public. # No

free samples ''Free Samples'' is a 2012 American independent comedy starring Jess Weixler and Jesse Eisenberg. It was the first film directed by Jay Gammill and the first film written by Jim Beggarly. Plot Jillian (Weixler), a Stanford Law School dropout re ...

to mothers. # No promotion of products in

health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health pr ...

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, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

s of infant

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...

containers. # Information to health workers should be

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

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 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'' (SCM), to the extent that the terms "condensed milk" and "sweetened condense ...

, 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
* World Breastfeeding Weekbr>Website
{{Authority control Breastfeeding organizations Medical and health organisations based in Malaysia International medical and health organizations Child-related organisations in Malaysia