NAFDAC establishes breastmilk substitutes technical committees in 32 states

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has established Breastmilk Substitutes (BMS) State Multi-Sectoral Technical Committees across 32 states.

The establishment is aimed at enforcing the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and ensuring compliance with Nigeria’s BMS regulations.

NAFDAC’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, announced the establishment in a press statement today, stating the agency’s commitment to promoting breastfeeding as a vital health practice across the nation.

Speaking at the virtual inauguration and capacity building of BMS State multi-sectoral technical committees on Friday, 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 Breastmilk Substitutes and the National BMS Regulations.

According to her, the frameworks are crucial to protecting and promoting breastfeeding in Nigeria and 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.

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“Breastfeeding is a dynamic living system; it is species-specific, evolutionary, and adaptive. Breastmilk is a tailor-made immune protection that contains hormones and other bioactives that cannot be replicated in any substitute product,” she noted.

The NAFDAC boss, however, described as unacceptable and unsatisfactory the preliminary statistics from a national survey that indicated a retrogressive progression in the percentage of children who were breastfed within one hour of birth in Nigeria.

Prof. Adeyeye noted that the result means that every stakeholder at the national and subnational levels should focus more on optimal breastfeeding to improve the nutritional well-being of infants and young children to contribute to life expectancy and growth of children.

Speaking in the same vein, the Director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Mrs. Eva Edwards, described the event as an achievement in the ongoing implementation of the National Strategy for the Implementation of the Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in Nigeria (2021-2025), which sets out the establishment of State Multi-Sectoral Technical Committees as a priority action to provide technical support on the Code.

“We have physically inaugurated State BMS teams in Kaduna, Yobe, Borno, Lagos, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),” she said, adding that the virtual inauguration session for 32 BMS State Multi-Sectoral Technical Committees is a testament to the joint commitment and resilience to the cause of improving the national nutrition situation for infants and young children, overcoming funding and logistic challenges.