Health ministry advises federal govt to pass breastfeeding law

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHS,R&C) has recommended the federal government follow the lead of the Sindh Assembly, which recently passed the ‘Sindh Protection and Promotion of Breast-Feeding and Young Child Nutrition Act, 2023’ despite strong pressure from the baby feed industry, officials said on Monday.

“The federal health ministry has advised the federal government to follow the lead of Sindh Assembly, which recently passed the breast feeding protection act as per World Health Assembly’s (WHA) resolution despite strong pressure from the baby feed industry”, an official of the NHS, R&C told The News.

The health ministry official, who requested anonymity, quoting a letter written to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif by the Baby Food and Nutrition Council (BNFC), claimed that the so-called council of the baby feed industry tried to mislead the prime minister and requested ‘to bring the Protection of Breastfeeding & Child Nutrition Ordinance 2002 and Rules 2009 on the agenda of Council of Common Interests (CCI)’ for Harmonization of Local Codes across all provinces.

“The Prime Minister’s Office, on the BNFC’s letter, sought the health ministry’s comments on the proposed breastfeeding law and we clearly told the PM Office that the law passed by the Sindh Assembly is in accordance with WHA resolution and federal parliament as well as other provincial assemblies should pass the similar laws to prevent our children from death, disease and misery caused by the breast milk substitutes”, the health ministry official claimed.

He said they had informed the PM Office regarding the deaths of 35,000 children every year due to diarrhoea and other diseases as they remain deprived of mothers’ feed due to aggressive and unethical marketing of the baby feed industry, adding that these diseases cause loss of US$ 3.2 billion economic loss to the national exchequer annually to the country.

“Only 48 percent of mothers exclusively feed their children in Pakistan for the first six months, which is resulting in severe malnutrition, stunting, wasting and deaths among infants and neonates in Pakistan.

Our children need to be breastfed for at least two years along with age-appropriate complimentary homemade nutritious feeding, which is not happening due to aggressive and unethical marketing of the formula milk companies”, the official added. The health ministry official highlighted that all the legislations at the federal and provincial levels have been modified as per the recommendations of the World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution (A69/7) and harmonized as per the Council of Common Interests (CCI) decision.

“Sindh is the first province to approve the legislation while the federal legislation on the protection and promotion of breastfeeding by the Ministry of National Health Services covers similar points and is ready for presentation in the National Assembly. Similarly, legislations in other provinces are also at different stages of approval so there is no variation in the national and provincial legislations”, the official maintained.

Contrary to the claims of the so-called Baby Food and Nutrition Council (BFNC), the health ministry official informed the PM Office that indiscriminate sale and use of Breast Milk Substitutes (BMS) without the prescription of doctors is one of the main reasons for infant and under-five mortality, as well as high level of wasting, stunting and obesity in Pakistan.

The health ministry official pointed out the baby feed industry even tried to exert pressure on Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho to make amendments to the draft law approved by the federal government before it is presented in the provincial assembly but their pressure was rejected by the provincial health minister and adding urged the federal government not to get influenced by the baseless claims and tactics of the baby feed industry.