Importance of breast feeding highlighted

Health minster stresses formula no substitute for mother’s milk

LAHORE: For a newborn child, his mother’s milk is the best diet, stated Provincial Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare Khawaja Imran Nazir on Monday.

Addressing a seminar on Punjab Protection of Breast Feeding and Child Nutrition Act, he explained that a mother’s milk had all the nutrients necessary for a growing child, which cannot be substituted for formula.

The seminar was organised by Integrated Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child Health and Nutrition Programme (IRMNCH), a project of the primary and secondary healthcare department.

Unfortunately, more and more children have stunted growth. The main reason for this is the inability to meet their nutritional needs, he lamented.

In an effort to overcome this, the minister said that there is a full ban on promoting and publicising formula. We will take strict action against those doctors who are prescribing formula for no apparent reason, he emphasised.

We have to promote breast feeding in our society. It not only decreases chances of developing breast cancer, but children who are breast fed are mentally and physically healthier, he added. The Punjab government has approved the Protection of Breast Feeding and Child Nutrition Act and will implement this law both in letter and in spirit, the minister said.

Member Planning and Development Health Dr Shabana Haider said that mother’s milks is a child’s primary right; it is our religious and fundamental responsibility to ensure they are not deprived of their rights.

Doctors working in gynaecology wards should counsel patients on the advnatages and benefits of breast feeding, she advised. She also insisted that the district administration play an active role in executing this law.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2018.