The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has inaugurated the Breast-milk Substitutes (BMS) State Multi-Sectoral Technical Committees across 32 states in line with the ongoing implementation of the National Strategy for the Implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in Nigeria.
The inauguration of the BMS state teams is also a reflection of the agency’s renewed efforts to implement and enforce the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and the National BMS Regulations in Nigeria.
Speaking at the virtual inauguration and capacity building of BMS State multi-sectoral technical committees on Friday, the agency’s Director-General, 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 Breast-milk Substitutes and the National BMS Regulations.
According to her, the frameworks are crucial to protecting and promoting breastfeeding in Nigeria, a practice that plays a significant role in 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.
Adeyeye clarified: ‘Mothers also experience health benefits from breastfeeding which include protection against breast cancers, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and weight regulation,’ she said, adding that breastfeeding is a dynamic living system, it is species specific, evolutionary, and adaptive. ‘Breastmilk is a tailor-made immune protection, contains hormones and other bioactives that cannot be replicated in any substitute product.”
The Director-General explained that these undeniable benefits of breastfeeding necessitated the need to come together to protect, promote and support its optimum practice by playing our roles in ensuring that the provisions of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and our national BMS regulations are effectively implemented, monitored, and enforced.
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 that were breastfed within one hour of birth in the country
Adeyeye noted that the result meant that every stakeholder at the national and subnational levels should focus more on optimal breastfeeding to improve the nutritional wellbeing of infants and young children to contribute to life expectancy and growth of children, and urged each BMS State Multi-Sectoral Technical Committee to be committed, diligent and proactive in the playing their roles in the improved breastmilk drive.
According to her, the establishment of the BMS State Multi-Sectoral Teams is a key milestone to achieving shared objectives and the state teams, comprising a broad range of relevant stakeholders, will be instrumental in ensuring that the BMS Code is effectively implemented at the State and Local Government levels across the country.
The Director-General commended the first batch of BMS State Multi-Sectoral Technical Committees that had already been inaugurated in Kaduna, Yobe, Borno, Lagos, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), stressing that “today’s session brings onboard an additional 32 States, to ensure we have comprehensive coverage across Nigeria.’’
Also, the Director, 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.
The Director pointed out that the virtual inauguration session for 32 BMS State Multi-sectoral Technical Committees “is a testament to our joint commitment, resolve, and resilience to the cause of improving our national nutrition situation for infants and young children, overcoming funding and logistic challenges, and ensuring that we reach every state, regardless.
She emphasized that the stakeholders’ collective mission is to protect and promote optimal breastfeeding practices, stressing a determination to succeed. She however, charged each BMS State Multi-Sectoral Technical Committee to realize that their role is critical in the on-going efforts to protect, promote, and indeed support breastfeeding nationwide
While urging the members to become champions for the cause of protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding in their respective states and to bring on-board more champions, stressing that “you are the backbone of this movement, and your work is essential in ensuring that we create an environment that upholds the rights of mothers to breastfeed and the rights of infants to breastfeeding.”
Congratulating them on their inauguration as members of the committee, Mrs. Edwards advised them to remain focused on the important assignment by ensuring effective implementation and enforcement of the BMS Code, and working collaboratively to protect and promote breastfeeding, a practice that remains one of the most impactful interventions in improving child health outcomes in the country.
Over 300 participants from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, led by Director, Nutrition, Mrs Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi, UNICEF Nigeria Office, World Health Organization (WHO) Nigeria Office, FHI360 Alive and Thrive, Save the Children, NAFDAC Directors, NAFDAC State Coordinators, BMS State Multi-sectoral Technical Committee members, development partners, and others featured in the event.
