By Asmau Ahmad
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has unveiled documents to support compliance to breastfeeding code implementation and Breast Milk Substitutes (BMS) regulations in the country.
The unveiling ceremony was done in Abuja at the 40th Anniversary of the International Code of marketing of the BMS in Nigeria with the theme “Implementing the BMS Code in Nigeria: Progress, Challenges and Opportunities.”
The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said that the BMS Code was an international health policy framework for breastfeeding protection and promotion adopted by the 3rd and 4th of the World Health Assembly (WHA) in 1981.
Represented by her Special Assistant, Mr Gbenga Fajemirokun, the director general said that the Code was developed as a public health strategy.
She added that it was aimed at contributing to the provision of safe and adequate nutrition for infants by protecting and promoting breastfeeding and to ensure proper use of breast-milk substitutes only when they were necessary.
Adeyeye said that the code was to protect mothers from aggressive marketing of breast-milk substitutes.
She further said that the code was also to ensure safe feeding and better nutrition for infants and young children as the provision of the code recommended restrictions on marketing of BMS.
She added that “Nigeria, a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) voted for code adoption in 1981 and is expected to implement all its provisions in the entirety as a minimum requirement and to translate it into national legislation, regulations and other suitable measures.
“As a country, Nigeria takes her international and national obligations very serious which is why the provisions of CAP M5 Marketing BMS Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 as amended by Decree 22 of 1999.
“This Act designated NAFDAC as the regulatory agency to implement, monitor and enforce the code in Nigeria.
“It is our collective desire as NAFDAC, the agency designated to implement and enforce this code compliance in Nigeria, to work collaboratively with all stakeholders and partners.
“To contribute to achieving safe and adequate nutrition for our infants through protection and promotion of breastfeeding.”
NAFDAC Director of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Mr Sheriff Olagunju said the implementation of BMS Code had earned the country improved rating in the 2020 International Code Status Report.
He added that NAFDAC would not rest on its oars to continue to enforce the code.
“The BMS Code spelt out roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders in ensuring that breastfeeding is promoted, supported, and protected by implementing the provisions of the BMS Code and subsequent relevant WHA resolutions in its entirety.
“These stakeholders include but not limited to the government, policy makers, healthcare workers, healthcare system, the media, mothers and their families, development partners, Non-Governmental Organisations and Civil Society Organisations.
“The importance of breastfeeding is also evident in its significantly positive impact on our planet.
“This is because breast-milk is a natural and renewable food which requires no preparation, no packaging, no storage and no transportation.
“The earth benefits when women are encouraged to breastfeed their infants and young children, therefore, the enabling environment must be created by the society at large for this to happen,” Olagunju said.
