By Folasade Akpan
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for stricter enforcement of Nigeria’s law regulating the marketing of breast milk substitutes to protect exclusive breastfeeding and improve child survival.
The Deputy Representative, Programmes, UNICEF Nigeria, Dr Rownak Khan, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.
Khan said aggressive promotion of infant formula continued to undermine breastfeeding, stressing that no substitute matched the nutritional, health and developmental benefits of a mother’s breast milk.
According to her, representatives of baby food companies often target new mothers at health facilities, making stronger enforcement of existing regulations and public awareness campaigns imperative across the country.
“There is actually a law globally, and also in Nigeria, not to promote breast milk substitutes. We have to really enforce the law very, very strictly,” she said.
She added that UNICEF was supporting the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to enforce the newly gazetted breast milk substitute regulations and monitor digital marketing practices.
“We are working with NAFDAC to support enforcement of this newly gazetted breast milk substitute regulation and establishment of systems to monitor and track digital marketing of breast milk substitute products.”
Khan said enforcement alone would not address the challenge, stressing the need to educate mothers and families on the dangers of inappropriate infant feeding practices and prevailing misconceptions.
According to her, many families wrongly believe infant formula makes babies healthier, while unsafe water used in preparing formula exposes children to infections and other preventable health complications.
“Nothing can beat mother’s breast milk. We also need to create women aware that this is actually causing harm to your child,” she said.
She said the 2026 World Breastfeeding Week theme, “Sustaining Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen Workforces”, underscored the need for supportive policies and environments for nursing mothers.
Khan said although almost 90 per cent of Nigerian women initiated breastfeeding, only about 29 per cent sustained exclusive breastfeeding, depriving children of its lifelong health and developmental benefits.
She said Nigeria’s breastfeeding indicators had either stagnated or declined, requiring urgent action from government, communities, employers, health workers, families and development partners.
According to her, early initiation of breastfeeding declined from 42 per cent in the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey to 23 per cent in recent findings.
She added that exclusive breastfeeding had stagnated, with only three out of every 10 women practising it, while continued breastfeeding to two years dropped from 28 per cent to 23 per cent.
“The data is not showing progress and that’s why we need to create momentum so that we can support women as well as all stakeholders,” Khan said.
She identified paid maternity leave, breastfeeding-friendly workplaces, health worker capacity building and stronger antenatal counselling as critical measures for improving breastfeeding practices nationwide.
Khan stressed that workplaces should provide dedicated breastfeeding spaces for mothers returning after childbirth, while communities should challenge harmful cultural beliefs discouraging exclusive breastfeeding.
According to her, husbands, grandparents, religious leaders, traditional leaders, youth groups, civil society organisations and the media all have roles in supporting mothers to breastfeed successfully.
She explained that counselling should begin during pregnancy and continue after delivery to help mothers initiate breastfeeding early and sustain exclusive breastfeeding for the recommended six months.
Khan said UNICEF was supporting the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and state governments to implement policies promoting breastfeeding and maternal nutrition across Nigeria.
She said the organisation recently partnered the ministry to roll out the national 1,000 Days Campaign aimed at improving nutrition from pregnancy until a child’s second birthday.
According to her, the campaign engages communities, religious and traditional leaders, youth advocates and the media to promote optimal infant and young child feeding practices.
She said UNICEF had also provided technical support that contributed to 21 of Nigeria’s 36 states adopting paid maternity leave policies for working mothers.
Khan added that the organisation supported national nutrition policies, strengthened monitoring systems, coordinated social and behavioural change activities and generated evidence to improve decision-making.
She said breastfeeding remained one of the most cost-effective interventions for preventing malnutrition, reducing child mortality and lowering healthcare expenditure.
According to her, breast milk is naturally available, environmentally friendly, produces no waste and contributes to climate sustainability while protecting infants from diseases.
“If we can enforce globally the exclusive breastfeeding, we can actually save 339 billion dollars globally. Can you imagine the amount of money that we can generate?” she said.
Khan added that exclusive breastfeeding also reduced women’s risk of certain cancers and contributed to healthy child spacing, providing additional health and economic benefits for families.
She urged Nigerians to reject myths surrounding breastfeeding and collectively support mothers to give every child the healthiest possible start in life.
NAN reports that NAFDAC Marketing (Breast-Milk Substitutes) Regulations, 2025, prohibits the promotion, advertising and improper marketing of breast-milk substitutes and empowers the relevant authority to make implementing regulations.
The regulations, which align Nigeria with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes adopted by the World Health Assembly, seek to protect breastfeeding by prohibiting the promotion of infant formula and related products to the public, banning gifts and free samples to mothers, and restricting marketing activities within health facilities.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Abiemwense Moru