Monitoring the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in Santiago, Chile

Abstract

In 1981, the WHO and its member countries adopted the International Code of Marketing of Breast- milk Substitutes (CODE) to regulate the marketing of infant feeding products. To eva luate compliance with the CODE in Santiago, identifying the most frequent violations. The WHO protocol was applied between June and September 2017 to evaluate the CODE compliance in family health centers (CESFAM) and maternity hospitals (MH) by interviewing 451 mothers and 164 healthcare professionals. In addition, advertising of breastmilk substitutes (BMS) and CODE violations in the media, points of sale (small stores n = 70 and large stores n = 10), and labels of these products were evaluated. In this study, 21% of mothers of newborn infants, 52% of mothers of infants younger than six months, and 71% of mothers of infants older than six months reported receiving instructions on BMS. Exposure to advertising of BMS exceeded 80%, while 4.7% and 2.9% received free samples or discount coupons, respectively. Among healthcare professio nals, 40% from CESFAM and 75% from MH indicated visits from company representatives. Du ring the study period, we found only two television adverts and 59 advertisements on 27 websites. Frequent CODE violations in large stores were offering discounts (70%), special displays (26.5%), and 3,6% promotional gifts. Product label violations were infrequent, however, all labels presented images idealizing product use. CODE violations are common in Santiago, Chile. The country would benefit from adopting all the CODE's recommendations, improving oversight, and toughening penalties in case of violations.