.Warns against misleading marketing of substitutes
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has urged Nigerian mothers to embrace exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of their infant’s life.
This recommendation comes amid concerns that aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes is hindering breastfeeding rates.
In a statement, yesterday, NAFDAC’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, disclosed that the World Health Organisation (WHO) global target for exclusive breastfeeding is 50 per cent by 2025, while the demographic and health survey indicated that only 28.7 per cent of nursing mothers in Nigeria embrace exclusive breastfeeding.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ engagement with the Association of Infant Food Manufacturers and Marketers in Nigeria (AIFMN), NAFDAC’s Director-General, Prof Christianah Adeyeye, emphasised the importance of exclusive breastfeeding for child health and development.
The DG, represented by the Director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN), Mrs Eva Edwards, described exclusive breastfeeding as the best start in life and the cornerstone of child survival and health because it provides essential, irreplaceable nutrition as nature intended for a child’s optimal development.
According to her, the stakeholders’ engagement with AIFMN is aimed at fostering fruitful dialogue on the implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (the Code) and the National Regulations on the Marketing of Infant and Young Children’s Food and other Designated Products (Registration, Sales etc.).
She explained that the Code, including the subsequent relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions, aims at contributing to the provision of safe and adequate nutrition for infants, by the protection and promotion of breastfeeding, and by ensuring the proper use of breast milk substitutes, when necessary, based on adequate information and through appropriate marketing and distribution.
“We cannot over-emphasise the significance of breastfeeding in the context of maternal and child health,” she said. “Recognising the irreplaceable impact of breastfeeding on the health and development of young children all over the world, and for the engagement of young children in Nigeria.
“NAFDAC remains resolutely committed to implementing and monitoring adherence to the provisions of the Code as the agency designated by law for this responsibility in the amendment Decree No. 22 Marketing (Breast-milk Substitutes) of 1999.”
Adeyeye also emphasised the importance of addressing the growing trend of digital marketing of breastmilk substitutes, which could be “powerfully persuasive” and often disguised.
The agency called for collaboration from stakeholders to create an environment that promotes optimal breastfeeding practices and safeguards the well-being of future generations.
