Protecting breastfeeding in West and Central Africa: over 25 years of implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes

In 1981 the World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes out of concern that inappropriate marketing of breastmilk substitutes was contributing to the alarming decline in breastfeeding worldwide and the increase in child malnutrition and mortality, particularly in developing countries.