The Director General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, has urged nursing mothers to champion optimal breastfeeding of their children with a view to improving the health status of their newborns and lowering their risk of breast and ovarian cancers.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends early initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of a baby’s birth, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, followed by introduction of safe, appropriate, adequate, complementary foods as from six months while breastfeeding continues up to 2 years of age or beyond.

Speaking during the 2024 World Breastfeeding celebration with the theme; ‘Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All’’, Adeyeye said breastfed babies have stronger immunity, and a reduced risk of suffering many childhood illnesses and infections.

Prof. Adeyeye who was represented by the Director, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN), Mrs. Eva Edwards, added that it is also associated with longer-term health benefits including higher Intelligence Quotient (IQ) for infants that were exclusively breastfed by their mothers.

She stated that the World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated annually to create awareness and generate support for improved breastfeeding practices for infants and young children, adding that the theme of this year’s celebration highlights the need to improve breastfeeding support to reduce health inequities that exist in our societies with a special focus on breast feeding in time of emergencies and crises as well as protecting the right of mothers and babies to survive and thrive.

The DG noted that It is the collective responsibility of all to ensure that every mother receives the support she needs to make breastfeeding a successful and fulfilling experience.

She lamented that many women do not receive the support they need to optimally breastfeed their babies, including access to trained personnel, providing empathetic and respectful health advice, and counseling throughout the woman’s breastfeeding journey.

Prof Adeyeye revealed that according to the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey of 2018, 97 per cent of children are breastfed in Nigeria at one point or the other, stressing that only 42 per cent of them are breastfed within one hour of birth.

She further disclosed that the proportion of children 0-6 months who are exclusively breastfed is 29 per cent, adding that the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey put this figure for exclusive breastfeeding at approximately 34 per cent.

She expressed delight that both figures show an improvement in national exclusive breastfeeding figures from the previous 17 per cent but noted that it still falls far short of the WHO target of increasing exclusive breastfeeding rate to at least 50 per cent by the year 2025.

“This therefore calls for action from all of us in our respective capacities as breastfeeding actors to accelerate progress and scale optimal breastfeeding practices in order to achieve the global target to save the lives of our children and mothers.’’ She said, adding that in order to successfully breastfeed babies, mothers need support such as food supplementation, from the health system, family members, community members, and from the work place.

Prof Adeyeye pointed out that the support is critical to the success of breastfeeding because knowledge-sharing, encouragement, support with household chores and creating an enabling environment make the act of breastfeeding easier for our mothers. ‘’It’s essential that no one is left behind especially vulnerable mothers who may need additional assistance to reduce breastfeeding inequities.’

The NAFDAC boss stated that women in all settings need and deserve support to optimally breastfeed their babies. She said when mothers receive the support they need to breastfeed their babies, everyone benefits, everyone wins.

According to her, the benefits of breastfeeding are innumerable and cannot be overemphasized, stating that breastmilk offers babies the best start and foundation for a healthy life, optimal growth and development in this critical early stage.

She emphasized that the antibodies present in breastmilk protect babies from illness and death, adding that this is especially important during emergencies which are unfortunately rife in Nigeria presently when breastmilk provides the necessary guarantee for a safe, nutritious, free, and accessible food source for infants and young children. It plays a significant role in the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals 2 & 3 which address ending hunger, improving nutrition and promoting health and wellbeing respectively.

She further disclosed that breastfeeding is one of the critical pathways to reducing under-five mortality and is the baby’s first food system. ‘’Our Agency’s unwavering commitment to protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding is directed towards addressing the threat that aggressive and inappropriate marketing of breastmilk substitutes by infant food manufacturers and marketers pose to optimal breastfeeding practices.’’

Prof Adeyeye used the platform of the commemoration of the World Breastfeeding Week to also inaugurate the Lagos State Breastmilk Substitute (BMS) Multisectoral Technical Committee and Advocacy Team as a collaborative strategy for the breastmilk substitutes Code compliance and monitoring.

‘’This is in line with the provisions of the 5-year National Strategy for the Implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in Nigeria 2021 – 2025, developed to give effect to the principles and objectives of the International Code and the National Regulations for the Marketing of Infant and Young Children Foods and other Designated Products.’’

Prof. Adeyeye said that the national strategy serves as a roadmap for effective implementation, monitoring and enforcement of the Code, thus it is intended to promote optimal breastfeeding practices to contribute to saving the lives of our infants and young children.

She closed by wishing all a productive and inspiring World Breastfeeding Week, calling for appreciation of breastfeeding mothers and support for them to have a successful and fulfilling breastfeeding experience.

•PHOTO: Director, Food Safety and Applied Nutrition FSAN, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control NAFDAC, Mrs Eva Edwards sandwiched by members of the newly inaugurated Lagos State BMS Multisectoral Technical Committee on the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes during the 2024 World Breastfeeding Week celebration with the theme; ‘Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All’’, in Lagos on Friday.

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