K-P bans mother’s milk substitutes

Stress that a mother breastfeeding her child during the pandemic is safe

PESHAWAR: The provincial government banned the marketing and distribution of breast milk substitutes for newborns and infants, stressing that a mother breastfeeding her child during the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is safe.

In a notification issued, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Directorate General Health Services said that breastfeeding is safe, even if the mother has tested positive for Covid-19.

The notification has directed all district health officers, Medical Teaching Institutions (MTIs) hospitals directors, all deputy commissioners to ban on the distribution and marketing of formula milk during the pandemic.

The directives shall be implemented under the K-P Protection of Breast-Feeding and Child Nutrition Act, 2015, and called for the provision of safe and adequate nutrition for infants and young children, the notification stated.

The department pointed to guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) which encouraged mothers to breastfeed their babies while adopting precautionary measures including the use of masks and following the health department’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the protection of babies.

It further said that mothers should wash their hands before and after feeding the baby, while disinfection measures should be adopted each time. The provincial health directorate has also asked the general public and opinion-makers to promote and protect breastfeeding and curb the inappropriate promotions of formula milk. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2020.