By Lodu William Odiya
Officials from National Ministry of Health has yesterday warned the business community and the traders not to advertise breast milk substitute in order to promote breastfeeding practices among women in the country.
Speaking to the media yesterday, the Senior Nutrition Inspector at the Ministry of health, Rita Juan Demetry said the Ministry and its partners were developing codes for marketing breastmilk substitute.
“To those selling this breast milk substitute, the ministry of health is saying do not advertise. We just need to give our children breast milk from zero to six months” she stated.
“If you have that breast milk substitute because still, we don’t have that code, you sell it but do not advertise. The ministry of health is saying don’t advertise the breastmilk substitute in the country as we are still in the process of developing the code” she added.
In her part, Khamisa Ayoub Miluwa who is the Director General for Nutrition also discouraged people from using promotional languages about breast milk substitutes to the breastfeeding mothers.
“Don’t talk about the importances of breast milk substitutes to any mothers. And then the posters for the breast milk substitutes are forbidden” she said.
She said that the warning was effective since 2022, which forbid traders from advertising the breastmilk substitute in the country.
“We cannot say sell it; this is really very wrong. We know some conditions also needs this thing but, from the ministry of health and the partners, the only problem that can prevent the child from breastfeeding is when the mother is suffering from Ebola” she highlighted.
The World health organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) emphasized maintaining breastfeeding and promoting breastfeeding wherever it was declining.
It was recommended for all mothers to continue breastfeeding for up to six months and continue breastfeeding and introduce some solid food items later. It also encourages breastfeeding until the mother and the baby desire it.
Breast milk substitutes could serve the nutritional needs of infants when breast milk is unavailable.
However, breastfeeding mothers either decrease the number of breast milk feedings or cease breastfeeding when other kinds of milk were introduced into the infant’s diet.