Report from the Country of Georgia: Protecting and Promoting Breastfeeding through Regulation of Artificial-Feeding Marketing Practices.
This paper highlights the southwest Asian country of Georgia's experience in creating efforts to protect and promote breastfeeding and to implement the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. Since 1994, the country of Georgia (of the former Soviet Union) has successfully implemented the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. In 1997-1998, Georgia conducted a study throughout the country's various regions to evaluate compliance with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. The research demonstrated numerous violations of the code by various companies and confirmed the necessity of ongoing activities to promote implementation of the code. Due to the great effort of Georgia's Ministry of Health and the International Baby-Food Action Network [IBFAN] Georgian group called "Claritas," the law titled "On Protection and Promotion of Breastfeeding and Regulation of Artificial Feeding" was adopted in 1999 by the country's parliament. As a result, Georgia has witnessed a sharp increase in breastfeeding percentages, the designation of baby-friendly status at 14 maternity houses, and a decrease in the advertisement of artificial-feeding products.
Nemsadze
Ketevan
K
K etevan N emsadze is a professor of pediatrics at Tbilisi State Medical University in the country of Georgia. She also serves as president of the NGO/UNICEF Regional Network for Children of CEE/CIS and Baltic States.