By Mohammed Nasir Shuaibu (Bauchi State Correspondent)
The National Agency for Food & Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned mothers to desist from substituting breast milk for their babies because it deprives them of their good health.
According to the agency's state coordinator in Bauchi State,Mrs. Josephine Dayilim, such practice equality deprive mothers of immense benefits, as well as causing some breast related diseases.
Mrs. Josephine Dayilim at a one day orientation meeting for media practitioners which just ended in Bauchi, wondered how some doctors and nurses help both private and public hospitals and convinced mothers to go for breastmilk substitutes instead of exclusive breastfeeding method for their babies.
The Bauchi NAFDAC Coordinator observed that many vulnerable mothers were captivated because of the aggressive promotional tactics of false prestige, and free sample gifts attached to artificial infants feeding, stressing that breast milk substitute has great disadvantage on children's life.
She told the meeting organized by Alive & Thrive Project, and Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (BASPHCDA) that the negative influence also aided some women to start going to work, as their husband either went to work or died on the need to argument the family income.
Dayilim recalled that in 1960s and early 1970s, public attention was drawn to the alarming decline in breastfeeding rearing in countries around the world, as the decline correspond with infants mortality and morbidity due mainly to diarrhoea and respiratory diseases, with more deaths (10-15 times higher) recorded for bottle or artificial feeding.
She further explained that the international code of marketing breast milk substitute has spelt out the code provisions to comply for each of the manufacturing company or distributor, even if such countries have not adopted laws or other measures.
"No advertising of any of this products to the public, no free samples to mothers, no promotion of products in health care facilities, including the distribution of free or low-cost suppliers. No gifts or personal samples to health workers and no ward or pictures idealising feeding or picture of infants on table of infants milk among others",.
Dayilim disclosed that NAFDAC would soon embark on rigorous patrolling in hospitals, clinics, chemists, medicine stores and markets to begin consficating such products that contained deceptive messages and promoting the use of breast milk substitutes for nursing mothers.
The Alive & Thrive Project Officer, Isaiah Ude, has earlier said that the aim of the meeting was to look for ways of promoting the culture of exclusive breastfeeding with a view to mitigate on the lingering child killer diseases as well as discouraging the use of breast milk substitutes by mothers in the country and Bauchi State inclusive.
Isaiah Ude revealed that Alive & Thrive Project is currently working on behavioural change on maternal, infants and young children nutrition (MICYN) in 7 states of the federation including Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, Sokoto and Yobe states.
Ude expressed optimism that with the media cooperation and support, the project will have a wider coverage to all knock and crannies of the 20 LGAs in Bauchi State considering the pivotal role they play in the sensitization of the public on matters with a view to change their perceptions. NNL.
