In the following news release, about a new report titled "Cracking the
Code," there is reference to the formula industry violating the CODE in
four countries.  What about The US and other countries in which there is
advertising, free samples, and promotion by health care workers?  Has
anyone read this report in full?
Was there anyone looking at the situation in developed countries?
Doesn't Nestle break the CODE every time they advertise on TV?  Not
being facetious, really want to know if anyone has fuller insight on
this recent report.
Sue Jacoby, IBCLC, California

> By Stephanie Nebehay     GENEVA, Jan 14 (Reuter) - The United Nations
> Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday said a number of multinational
> companies,
> including Nestle SA <NESZn.S> and Novartis <NOVZn.S>, were putting
> infant
> lives at risk by aggressively promoting breast-milk substitutes.
>
>     The agency called on companies to disclose their marketing practices
> in each country and prove their compliance with a voluntary code adopted                                                                                                                                         >by the U.N.'s World Health Organisation (WHO).
>
>     Hind Khatib, coordinator of UNICEF's so-called baby-friendly
> hospital initiative, was asked which multinational firms violated the code. "All of them." she told a news briefing.
>
>     UNICEF backed a study released last week in London by an
> international
> group monitoring breast-feeding world-wide which found the code was
> being violated in Bangladesh, Poland, Thailand and South Africa.
>
>  In a statement issued in Geneva, UNICEF endorsed the coalition's
> study as a "careful and sound analysis."
>
>     "Thus, 16 years after the international code was embraced by the
> world community, its provisions are still being breached on a continuing
> basis," it said. "This puts the health and lives of great numbers of infants at
> risk."
>
>     "Marketing practices that undermine breastfeeding are potentially
> hazardous wherever they are pursued."
>
>     The report, entitled "Cracking the Code," was issued by a coalition
> of 27 churches, academic bodies, infant feeding experts and development
> groups.
>
>     It named Gerber, a subsidiary of Switzerland's Sandoz AG <SANZ.S>,
> Mead Johnson, Nestle SA, Nutricia <NUTVc.AS> and Wyeth as being among those violating the code in four countries.
>
> Last year Sandoz merged with Ciba-Geigy to form Novartis.
>
> Wyeth is a division of American Home Products Corp <AHP.N>.
>
>     The WHO argues that while mothers' milk is hygienic and passes on
> antibodies that enable babies to fight disease, substitutes involve
> adding water which is often contaminated in the developing world.
>
>     UNICEF appealed to manufacturers and distributors to uphold the
> provisions of the code, which itself calls on companies to monitor their
> own marketing practices and ensure they conform.
>
> 14:52 01-14-97
>
>