WUNRN
Asian Human Rights Commission
PAKISTAN - IMPORTANT LEGISLATION TO
RESTRICT INFANT FORMULA MILK MANUFACTURERS & TO PROMOTE BREAST FEEDING
Contributor: Amir Murtaza
The year 2013 brings fresh hopes for the
children of Pakistan's Sindh province as Members of the Provincial Assembly have
passed into law the "Sindh
Protection of Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition Bill 2013". The
immensely important law suggests adequate and appropriate nutrition for infants and children by promoting and
protecting breastfeeding in the province of Sindh.
It is knowledgeable to recall that
Pakistan is among the 118 countries of the world who had voted in favor of
adopting the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes during the World Health
Assembly in May 1981. However, after elapsing a longtime, in 2002 the
country had introduced the Protection of Breast-Feeding and Child Nutrition
Ordinance. The Ordinance in Chapter III Under (2) states that, "No
person shall in any manner assert that any designated product is a substitute
for mother's milk, or that it is
equivalent to or comparable with or
superior to mother's milk." The Protection of
Breast-Feeding and Child Nutrition Ordinance 2002 also stressed on formation of
a National Board to monitor the implementation of the said
Ordinance.
Right after the devolution plan, two provinces, Punjab and Balochistan have
also introduced legislation on
breastfeeding and child nutrition in line with the Protection of Breast-Feeding
and Child Nutrition Ordinance 2002. The recent introduction of laws on
protection of breastfeeding and child nutrition in Sindh makes it clear that
now in major areas of the country no commercial milk formula maker or their distributor can assert that their product is a
substitute, equivalent or superior to
mother's milk.
It is a fact that breastfeeding plays a very significant role in child
survival, growth and development. Dr. Samina Ahsan, a local pediatrician,
informed that, "Breast milk is
absolutely the best for infants and
children as it contains all the vitamins and nutrients, necessary for
them." She said that breast milk
also contains all essential substances that are required to protect the babes from illness and added
that, "Breastfeeding is really good for mother's health as well."
Several studies, conducted in Pakistan and other parts of the world, on the
benefits of breastfeeding clearly showed that children who are exclusively
breastfed have a far lower risk of getting sick or died during the first twelve
months of their life than children who weren't breastfed.
Despite clear and recognized benefits of breastfeeding over bottle-feeding the
World Health Organization's Global Data Bank on Breastfeeding - which presently
covers 94 countries and 65% of the world's infant
population - estimates that only 35% of them are exclusively breastfed between
0-4 months of age. It is important to
mention that "Exclusive" breastfeeding is defined as no other food or
drink, not even water, except breast milk
for at least 4 and if possible 6 months of life, but allows the infant to
receive drops and syrups (vitamins, minerals and medicines)".
Pakistan is experiencing a high number of infant
mortality rate; however, available data indicates that only 36% of the infants receive exclusive breastfeeding in
the country. Artificial feeding or bottle feeding has become one of the
biggest public health problems in Pakistan. Despite of the fact that
bottle feeding enhances the chances of serious illness of the infants, it is an irony that a large number of
mothers in Pakistan opt formula milk.
The most common cause among mothers not to
feed their infants is the perception
of their feeble health and insufficient milk.
Additionally, working mothers find it difficult to breastfeed their babies, due to lack of available space at their
workplace.
Bushra is a house wife and right after the birth of her first baby boy the
local doctor advised her to use a specific brand of baby formula milk. "My mother and
mother-in-law both stressed on me to
breastfeed the child; however, a local pediatrician told me that due to pregnancy I have become quite weak
therefore I should artificially feed my baby," Bushra said and added that
the doctor also prescribed the same
baby formula milk to some other mothers of new born
babies.
Health professionals opined that in some health conditions the use formula milk is suitable; however, in normal health
conditions baby formula should be avoided in better interest of the child and
mother.
The newly passed Sindh Protection of Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition Bill
2013 have also put obligation on the manufactures of Infant/baby formula milk to
publish on its tin or packet in bold characters that "Mother's milk is best for your baby and helps in
preventing diarrhoea and other illness."
Infant/baby formula milk manufacturing is a multi-billion dollar
industry and the quantum of their trade is increasing rapidly. No one can
deny the fact that sale of one tin or packet of baby formula milk deprives a child to the most suitable food, the breast milk.
The introduction of specific legislation
on breastfeeding and child nutrition is a praiseworthy step in right
direction. However, the provincial governments should take immediate
actions for strict implementation of the law. Monitoring committees should be formed, without
any further delay.
Additionally, the government should take notice of the manufacturers of infant/baby formula milk who are using unethical tactics and
influencing the health practitioners, merely to
enhance the sale of their products and maximize their profit on the cost of the
health of innocent children.
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