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Statement on the WHO Report on Infant and young child nutrition: biennial progress report (resolution WHA33.32), May 2004

Thank you Chair for this opportunity to address the distinguished members of the World Health Assembly. On behalf of the International Special Dietary Foods Industries (ISDI), I wish to affirm our long-standing commitment to working with WHO to help combat malnutrition by sharing our scientific expertise and continuously seeking to develop better products for the specific nutritional needs of infants and young children.

ISDI welcomes the WHO Secretariat’s revised biennial progress report and wishes to thank the Secretariat for it. ISDI would also like to say:

• Breast-feeding is always best, but when mothers cannot, or choose not, to breastfeed, no other breast-milk substitute is as safe as infant formula, developed according to national legislation and/or FAO/WHO Codex Standards. Infant formula is used to replace inferior and low quality breast-milk substitutes, such as sugar and water, cereal and water, and rice and water. Infant formulas play a critical public health role in fulfilling the nutritional needs of babies whose mothers do not breastfeed.
  
  
• Infant food manufacturers will continue to pursue the highest scientific standards in their products. When scientific data establishes any health advance regarding infant formula manufactured under the current standards, manufacturers work closely with national health authorities and FAO/WHO Codex to adapt their products accordingly. For their part, member states must stay abreast of research in the infant nutrition field to ensure that future health policies are based on sound science.

ISDI fully supports the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and wholeheartedly endorses its implementation. Many of its member companies have taken strong steps to see that it is observed to the letter, conducting independent audits and disciplining employees found to be in violation. They have also established national associations to help facilitate dialogue with government authorities charged with implementing the Code.

We encourage governments to move ahead to enshrine the Code in national legislation and to establish impartial and transparent monitoring procedures.

In closing, ISDI once again calls upon WHO to initiate a constructive dialogue among all concerned parties to resolve outstanding Code issues so that we may concentrate our efforts on reducing malnutrition which is one of the Millenium Goals.

Thank you, Chair.

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