Brazil and Mexico, supported by Armenia, Bangladesh,  El Salvador, Panama, Peru, Sri-Lanka tabled a  zero draft Resolution Regulating the digital marketing of breast-milk substitutes in November.   Since then, Chile, Slovakia, Norway, Vanuatu and Lesotho have added their names.

Member States have had three meetings to discuss the Draft (29 Nov, 16 Dec and 9th January).  We expect the new draft  to be debated at the 156th Executive Board under  Item 14. Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health.

See:
Proposed resolutions
Members of the Executive Board
Chair and Officers of the Board

If approved by the 156th Executive Board (3-11th February 2025)  it will go forward to the 78th World Health Assembly (May 19- 27, 2025). (draft agenda)

IBFAN is also supporting a Resolution calling for an extension of the Nutrition targets.    For previous Blogs Click HERE and HERE 

Why a Resolution is needed and how it can be done

Here is a summary of some important points raised by UNICEF during the webinar:

• The core of the prohibited marketing practices of the Code now exist in the digital space.
• Digital marketing has more actors across the supply chain (social media platforms, online advertisers, internet service providers etc – not just product producers and distributors.
• So governments must articulate specific implementation and enforcement mechanisms into their legislation, specifying legal duties of compliance to the appropriate actors.
• There is no need for governments to expend significant resources to enforce every violation. The other actors in the digital supply chain have control over monitoring the content on their platforms and in many countries already do so for other regulated marketing practices and products such as pharmaceutical, tobacco, alcohol as well as intellectual property infringements etc. The approach set out in the WHO Guidance is not new or practically difficult to implement, but is very important to implement as soon as possible.
• The 2024 Code Status Report found that when counties included monitoring and compliance mechanisms into their laws they had higher breastfeeding rates. When they did not, breastfeeding rates were similar to those that had no legal measures at all.

Digital marketing is fast becoming the predominant source of exposure to promotion of baby feeding products globally. In 2022, WHO’s report on digital marketing of breast-milk substitutes  described its cross border extent and power. It is now totally out of control and parents and carers everywhere are targeted by paid  â€˜influencers’ and other deceptive schemes with information that undermines WHO and national health recommendations and disempowers parents.