MUSCAT: The regional training in Monitoring and Support for Implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and Subsequent Relevant World Health Assembly Resolutions (NetCode) began under the auspices of Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of Health, at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Muscat, on Monday.
The ceremony gathered representatives of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, as well as regional and international organisations.
The three-day workshop, organised by the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the Nutrition Department at the Ministry of Health (MoH), is hosting 10 experts in NetCode from the region that would lead six sessions.
The opening ceremony was delivered by Dr Ayoub al Jawaldeh, Regional Adviser Nutrition of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO).
Dr Al Jawaldeh affirmed that the WHO is providing the member states with the tools and guidance to implement the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and Subsequent Relevant World Health Assembly Resolutions (NetCode) that will enable them to set up or strengthen effective monitoring systems.
Later, the sessions of the first day began that addressed at first the new developments in relation to the International Code highlighting the WHO Guidance on Ending Inappropriate Promotion of Foods for Infants and Young Children. Moreover, the inappropriate marketing practices in EMR was reviewed, and last session scoped the status of National Legal and Regulatory Measures to implement the International Code in EMR.
The sessions of the remaining two-day will highlight monitoring and enforcement of National Code Legal and Regulatory Measures, and analysing country challenges and needs for strengthening code legislation and monitoring.
The regional meeting comes in line with the Sultanate’s celebration of Breastfeeding Week, which will be observed on the 1-7 November under the theme ‘Sustaining Breastfeeding Together’. The Sultanate was selected among eight countries in the world to implement the NetCode evaluation and follow-up system. As a result, the MoH, represented by the Nutrition Department and in collaboration with the MoH Information Technology, introduced e-notification for the national code violation of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. — ONA
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