The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has inaugurated the Breastmilk 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 Director General of NAFDAC, 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 Breastmilk Substitutes and the National BMS Regulations.
According to Adeyeye, these 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.
“Mothers also experience health benefits from breastfeeding, which include protection against breast cancers, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and weight regulation.”
She added that breastfeeding is a dynamic living system; it is species-specific, evolutionary, and adaptive. ‘Breastmilk is a tailor-made immune protection and contains hormones and other bioactives that cannot be replicated in any substitute product.’
The DG stated that these undeniable benefits of breastfeeding necessitate the need for us 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 Nigeria.
Prof Adeyeye noted that the result means that every stakeholder at the national and subnational levels should focus more on optimal breastfeeding to improve the nutritional well-being of infants and young children to contribute to the life expectancy and growth of children.
She urged each BMS State Multi-Sectoral Technical Committee to be committed, dedicated, diligent, and proactive in the fulfilment of their mandate.
She explained that the establishment of the BMS State Multi-Sectoral Teams is a key milestone to achieving our shared objectives, adding that 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.
She commended the first batch of BMS State Multi-Sectoral Technical Committees that had already been inaugurated: 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.’’
Speaking in the same vein, 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.
‘’We have physically inaugurated state BMS teams in Kaduna, Yobe, Borno, Lagos, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),’’ she said, adding 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 emphasised 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 realise that their role is critical in the ongoing efforts to protect, promote, and indeed support breastfeeding across Nigeria.
She urged them to become champions for the cause of protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding in their respective states and to bring onboard more champions.
She stated, “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, Mrs. Edwards encouraged everyone to remain focused on the important task at hand: 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 Nigeria.
The event was attended virtually by over 300 participants drawn from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, led by Director, Nutrition, Mrs. Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi mni, UNICEF Nigeria Office, World Health Organisation (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 other participants.
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