[The management strategy of the Brazilian National Network of Human Milk Banks]

The Brazilian National Network of Human Milk Banks (REDEBLH), with its headquarters in the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro, is experiencing rapid growth. The Network's activity has been acknowledged by the World Health Organization and received the Sasakawa Health Award in 2001 for best public health project. One of the main challenges is to ensure continuing development of competencies to respond to the needs arising from such growth. A new strategy is being pursued to deal with the Network's management issues. This article aims to develop a conceptual framework to contribute to the elaboration of a theoretical framework for new management strategies in the REDEBLH. Using such concepts, the aim is to draw on the typology of networks described in the specialized literature to identify the institutional profile of the REDEBLH. Based on the understanding that it is necessary to identify and understand the processes occurring within networks, and after which to consider management-related issues, the study used a proposal developed for the formation of innovation networks as its analytical tool.