The Sindh government on Friday launched World Breastfeeding Week with a renewed pledge to strictly enforce the province’s law against the promotion of infant formula and expand the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative to improve maternal and child health.
Speaking at the launch of the week-long global campaign, which will continue through Breastfeeding Month in August, Sindh Health and Population Welfare Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho said breastfeeding remained one of the most effective measures for protecting newborns, improving nutrition and reducing infant mortality.
She said the government would strengthen enforcement of the Sindh Protection and Promotion of Breast-feeding and Young Child Nutrition Act, which bans the advertising, marketing and promotion of infant formula, breastmilk substitutes and commercial complementary foods for children up to three years old.
Dr Pechuho said authorities would remain vigilant against unethical commercial practices that discourage breastfeeding and weaken mothers’ confidence.
She also said Sindh was expanding the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative by turning tertiary, district and regional hospitals into baby-friendly facilities where mothers are supported to start breastfeeding within the first hour after birth, newborns receive immediate skin-to-skin contact and unnecessary formula feeding is discouraged.
According to the minister, more than 3,000 healthcare providers have already been trained in clinical lactation management, breastfeeding counselling and maternal nutrition to strengthen support across public health facilities.
Dr Pechuho said exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, followed by timely introduction of safe and nutritious homemade complementary foods while continuing breastfeeding, protects children from severe diarrhea, pneumonia and acute malnutrition.
She said optimal breastfeeding, along with routine immunization, remains one of the most effective ways to improve child survival and health.
Marking this year’s campaign under the theme “Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen What Works,” the minister urged healthcare professionals, civil society, the media and families to work together to create an environment where every mother receives the support needed to breastfeed successfully.
Unicef also backed the campaign, calling breastfeeding a shared responsibility and a cornerstone of child survival, nutrition and development.
Unicef Sindh Chief of Field Office Prem Bahadur Chand said investment in evidence-based policies and services would help ensure that every child in Pakistan gets the healthiest possible start in life.
He said Unicef would support advocacy, awareness, community engagement and media activities throughout August across the country to encourage collective action in support of breastfeeding.
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