The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has highlighted the significance of exclusive breastfeeding for the health and well-being of both infants and mothers.
At the 2024 World Breastfeeding celebration, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, emphasized the benefits of exclusively breastfed babies, including stronger immunity, reduced risk of childhood illnesses, and higher intelligence quotient.
Adeyeye encouraged nursing mothers to embrace exclusive breastfeeding to enhance their babies’ mental and physical development and decrease their own risk of breast and ovarian cancers.
She also emphasized the World Health Organization’s recommendations for early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, and continued breastfeeding up to two years or beyond.
Adeyeye expressed concern about the lack of support that many women face in optimally breastfeeding, such as access to trained personnel, empathetic health advice, and counseling.
She pointed out that Nigeria’s exclusive breastfeeding rate is currently at 34 percent, below the WHO target of 50 percent by 2025.
Adeyeye called for collective action to accelerate progress and promote optimal breastfeeding practices, stressing the importance of breastfeeding in achieving Sustainable Development Goals related to hunger, nutrition, and health.
She also advocated for support for breastfeeding mothers to ensure a successful and fulfilling experience.
“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 of saving the lives of our children and mothers
“In order to successfully breastfeed babies, mothers need support such as food supplementation, from the health system, family members, community members, and from the workplace,” she stated.
Adeyeye highlighted that support was vital to the success of breastfeeding because knowledge-sharing, encouragement, support with household chores, and creating an enabling environment make exclusive breastfeeding practice easier for our mothers.
She maintained, “It is essential that no one is left behind especially vulnerable mothers who may need additional assistance to reduce breastfeeding inequities.”
The Director of NAFDAC emphasized the importance of supporting mothers in all settings to practice exclusive breastfeeding, highlighting its numerous benefits for both mothers and babies.
She stressed that breastmilk provides the best foundation for a healthy life, optimal growth, and development, while also offering protection against illnesses and death through its antibodies. In emergency situations, breastmilk serves as a safe, nutritious, and accessible food source for infants.
She further emphasized that breastfeeding is a crucial pathway to reducing under-five mortality and is the baby’s first food system, ultimately leading to a win-win situation for all when mothers receive the necessary support.
“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,” she stated.
Professor Adeyeye, the Director of NAFDAC, launched the Lagos State Breastmilk Substitute Multisectoral Technical Committee and Advocacy Team to promote and monitor compliance with the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes.
This initiative aligns with the 5-year National Strategy (2021-2025) aimed at implementing the Code’s principles and objectives, as well as the National Regulations for the Marketing of Infant and Young Children Foods.
The strategy serves as a roadmap for effective implementation, monitoring, and enforcement of the Code, ultimately promoting optimal breastfeeding practices to save the lives of infants and young children.
