NAFDAC Reiterates Need For Exclusive Breastfeeding, Frowns At Inappropriate Marketing Of Breast-Milk Substitutes

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has reiterated the need for Nigerian nursing mothers to embrace exclusive breastfeeding of their infants for the first six months of life to improve the health status of their newborns.

The agency disclosed that the World Health Organisation (WHO) global target for exclusive breastfeeding is 50 per cent by 2025, while the demographic and health survey indicates that only 28.7 per cent of nursing mothers embrace exclusive breastfeeding in Nigeria.

The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, stated this in Lagos at a stakeholders engagement with the Association of Infant Food Manufacturers and Marketers in Nigeria (AIFMN) on the implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes.

She noted that NAFDAC remains 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.

Exclusive breastfeeding – defined as the practice of only giving an infant breast milk for the first 6 months of life (no other food or water) – has the single largest potential impact on child mortality of any preventive intervention. It is part of optimal breastfeeding practices, which also include initiation within one hour of life and continued breastfeeding for up to two years of age or beyond.

The NAFDAC boss pointed out that exclusive breastfeeding is the best start in life and the cornerstone of child survival and health, adding that it provides essential, irreplaceable nutrition as nature intended for a child’s optimal growth and development.

Represented by the Director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN), Mrs. Eva Edwards, Prof Adeyeye noted that inappropriate marketing of breast-milk substitutes contributes to undermining efforts to improve breastfeeding rates and duration.

According to her, the stakeholders engagement with AIFMN was 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 Food and other Designated Products (Registration, Sales etc.).

“We cannot over-emphasize the significance of breastfeeding in the context of maternal and child health, she said, adding that recognizing the irreplaceable impact of breastfeeding on the health and development of infants and young children all over the world, and for the purpose of the engagement, infants and 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,” a statement by Mr. Sayo Akintola, NAFDAC’s Resident Media Consultant, quoted Adeyeye as saying.

“You will recall that the sixty-ninth World Health Assembly, which held in 2016 adopted Resolution WHA69.9 which urged Member States and health professionals to implement the recommendations in the accompanying WHO Guidance on Ending Inappropriate Promotion of Foods for Infants and Young Children,” she said, adding that the guidance seeks to ensure that financial support for infant and young child health programmes and workers do not create conflicts of interest (COI).

Adeyeye stated that the guidance notes that health professionals and facilities are often targeted and influenced by the infant and young child food industry through promotion, relationships, and incentives, and that these incentives create conflicts of interest and can result in the loss of independence, integrity, and public credibility.

“Last year, the WHO, together with a Technical Advisory Group (TAG), in recognition of the current trend of digital promotion of BMS, developed the guidance on digital marketing technologies to address these new marketing tools that are powerfully persuasive and often easily recognizable as breast-milk substitute promotions,” she said, stressing that digital marketing can indeed deliver breast-milk substitutes promotions covertly.

As regulators, she said “we welcome the development of the guidance document, having dealt with issues of digital promotions of breast-milk substitutes.”

She reminded AIFMN that breast-milk substitutes are legitimate products which should be available for use when they are necessary, based on adequate information and through appropriate marketing and distribution.