IBFAN Asia Newswire

The Last word on Infant and Young Child Feeding

• WBCi tool by IBFAN launched at the World Health Assembly, Geneva 2014
  WHO appreciates IBFAN‘s WBCi tool. On the launch at the 26^TH WHA the tool showcased potential for countries to both plan and budget for implementing the Global Strategy  for Infant and Young Child Feeding and to track availability and movement of resources. Infant feeding is seen to be integrated into the other health and nutrition programs so that it is not viewed as a standalone intervention. Over 80 participants from several countries and representatives of both governments and civil society organizations were present at the launch. 

For Photo Gallery: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.665597283513309.1073741833.107657562640620&type=1

Global voices endorse WBCi Tool check videos:
Patti Rundall , Policy Director Baby Milk Action, IBFAN UK talks about WBCi Initiative
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biFaXYWYxcY

Julie Smith Economist, Fellow Australian National University talks on WBCi Initiative
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmLVsc-axAs

• IBFAN gets approved access to WHO’s policy setting process while baby food industry is denied!
  According to Patti Rundall, Co Chair of IBFAN’s Global Council “It’s really pleasing that IBFAN now has official NGO status with WHO in its own right. Removal of this status from ISDI signals a turning point in the debate about how WHO will interact with commercial actor. But the decision on GAIN is worrying because identifying ISDI as a business front group is not difficult, but entities like GAIN that were set up to open up markets, but cleverly hide this true purpose, are trickier.”

• South Asian countries came together to strengthen IYCF policies and programs at the IBFAN Workshop in Himanchal Pradesh, India
  23 representatives from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and an expert from the World Bank took stock of the existing policy and programme in their countries on IYCF .The team also exercised IBFAN’s latest costing tool “The WBCi Tool” to budget resources for future plan of actions.

          For Photo Gallery
          https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.639427882796916.1073741831.107657562640620&type=1

Global Publication Highlights

• Protecting policy space for public health nutrition in an era of international investment agreements
  It highlights the neglected role of public health policy-makers in national decisions pertaining to investment and investor protection and examines ways to protect policy space for public health nutrition. It focuses on public health nutrition policies designed to prevent diet-related non communicable diseases (NCDs).

• All Give and No Take
  George Monbiot the famous environment and political activist from Britain wrote this revolutionary article in May 2014 revealing the threats democracy is subjected to from the intrusion of corporate power in a system that governments have shown no interest in reforming. These are governed by back door deals which put the public welfare or safety, public health, environment or national security at stake.