World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt.
International Baby Food Action Network Arab World Coordinator, Cairo, Egypt.
East Mediterr Health J. 2018 Apr 5;24(1):25-32.
Optimal breastfeeding practices and appropriate complementary feeding improve child health, survival and development. The countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region have made significant strides in formulation and implementation of legislation to protect and promote breastfeeding based on The International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (the Code) and subsequent relevant World Health Assembly resolutions.
To assess the implementation of the Code in the Region.
Assessment was conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean using a WHO standard questionnaire.
Seventeen countries in the Region have enacted legislation to protect breastfeeding. Only 6 countries have comprehensive legislation or other legal measures reflecting all or most provisions of the Code; 4 countries have legal measures incorporating many provisions of the Code; 7 countries have legal measures that contain a few provisions of the Code; 4 countries are currently studying the issue; and only 1 country has no measures in place. Further analysis of the legislation found that the text of articles in the laws fully reflected the Code articles in only 6 countries.
Most countries need to revisit and amend existing national legislation to implement fully the Code and relevant World Health Assembly resolutions, supported by systematic monitoring and reporting.
最佳母乳喂养实践和适当的补充喂养可改善儿童健康、生存和发展。东地中海区域各国在制定和执行保护和促进母乳喂养的立法方面取得了重大进展，这些立法是基于《国际母乳代用品销售守则》（《守则》）和随后的世界卫生大会相关决议。
评估《守则》在本区域的执行情况。
世卫组织东地中海区域办事处使用世卫组织标准问卷进行了评估。
本区域 17 个国家制定了保护母乳喂养的立法。仅有 6 个国家有全面的立法或其他法律措施，反映了《守则》的全部或大多数规定；4 个国家有法律措施纳入了《守则》的许多规定；7 个国家有法律措施包含了《守则》的一些规定；4 个国家正在研究这个问题；仅有 1 个国家尚未采取任何措施。对立法的进一步分析发现，仅有 6 个国家的法律条文完全反映了《守则》的条文。
大多数国家需要重新审查和修订现有国家立法，在世卫组织系统监测和报告的支持下，全面执行《守则》和世界卫生大会相关决议。
