Lara Adejoro
In a move to enforce the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has inaugurated the Breast Milk Substitutes State Multi-Sectoral Technical Committees across 32 states.
NAFDAC, in a statement on Sunday, signed by its Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, said the inauguration of the committees was in line with the ongoing implementation of the national strategy for the implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in Nigeria.
The agency noted that the inauguration of the BMS State teams was also a reflection of the agency’s renewed efforts to implement and enforce the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and the National BMS regulations in Nigeria.
In September, the Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria, and the FHI 360 Alive & Thrive demanded the implementation of the National Multi-Sectoral Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition, and the reinforcement of the Breast Milk Substitute marketing code in the country.
According to them, the BMS marketing code aims to protect breastfeeding by regulating the marketing of breast milk substitutes and is vital to improving infant and young child feeding practices.
Speaking at the virtual inauguration of the committees, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, charged the teams to lead the effort in their respective states to ensure full compliance with the provisions of the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes and the National BMS regulations.
Adeyeye said the frameworks were crucial to protecting and promoting breastfeeding in Nigeria, a practice that plays a significant role in improving the health and well-being of children and mothers.
She further stated that breastfeeding is key to public health, foundational to infant and young child health and development, supports cognitive and psychosocial development, as well as protects against infectious and non-communicable diseases.
“Mothers also experience health benefits from breastfeeding which include protection against breast cancers, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and weight regulation,” she said, adding that breastfeeding is a dynamic living system, it is species-specific, evolutionary, and adaptive.
“Breastmilk is a tailor-made immune protection, contains hormones and other bioactives that cannot be replicated in any substitute product.”
The DG stated that the benefits of breastfeeding necessitate the need to promote and support its optimum practice.
She explained that the establishment of the BMS State Multi-Sectoral Teams was a key milestone in achieving shared objectives.
The Director, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Mrs Eva Edwards, said, “We have physically inaugurated State BMS teams in Kaduna, Yobe, Borno, Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory.
“The virtual inauguration session for 32 BMS State Multi-sectoral Technical Committees is a testament to our joint commitment, resolve, and resilience to the cause of improving our national nutrition situation for infants and young children, overcoming funding and logistic challenges, and ensuring that we reach every state, regardless.”
She stressed that the stakeholders’ collective mission is to protect and promote optimal breastfeeding practices.
The event was attended virtually by over 300 participants drawn from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, led by Director, Nutrition, Mrs Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi, UNICEF Nigeria Office, World Health Organisation Nigeria Office, FHI360 Alive and Thrive, Save the Children, among others.
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