PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is yet to take steps for implementation of Protection of Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition Act, 2015 despite lapse of 18 months.

“The law, passed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, is yet to come into action. There is no progress on the law and it has remained to papers only. The law provides for constituting KP Infant Feeding Boards to put it in enforcement mood,” sources said.

They said that the board had not been formed and as a result the manufacturers of formula milk and food supplement continued to fleece people. They said that government was required to form IFB with health minister as its chairman to receive complaints regarding violation of the Act.

Sources said that IFB would subsequently recommend investigations into cases against manufacturers, distributors and health workers found to be in contravention of the provisions of the law. After passage of 18th amendment, the provinces had to make its own law and the compressive legislation if implemented would regulate the products relating to children, mothers and general public.

Experts say enforcement of law to control promotion of formula milk

Experts say that enforcement of the law prohibits the manufacturers from presenting their products in comparison to mother’s milk and their promotion tactics to lure the people and sell their respective brand. Citing surveys, they say, that the province has low child health indicators, mainly due to deficiency of iodine, Vitamin-A, iron, folic acid and zinc, which can be overcome without any investment.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 68.5 per cent children under five years of age have Vitamin-A deficiency against nationwide 54 per cent while 49 per cent suffer from anaemia compared to 62 per cent prevalent at the country level, according to National Nutrition Survey 2011. The province has 24.1 per cent underweight children compared to Pakistan’s and 31 per cent, according to the survey.

Experts said that the comprehensive law suffered delay first in its passage from the provincial assembly and then at implementation stage. The formation of the boards was the first step to enforce the law, they added.

Sources said that the boards also included paediatricians and gynaecologists to advise and give guidelines to government regarding matters related to products designated for infants and child nutrition. Pakistan Paediatrics Association is highly concerned over the advertisement campaigns by owners of the formula milk and wants the government to enforce the law as soon as possible.

“We condemn the manufacturers, who advertise their brands as substitute of mother’s milk,” PPA president Prof Amin Jan Gandapur told Dawn.

He said that they didn’t know how to take legal action against the violators of the law. He said that there was lack of understanding of the risks of not breastfeeding children. He termed illiteracy and lack of public awareness and widespread marketing by makers of breast milk substitutes as main causes of childhood diseases.

Prof Amin Jan asked the government to implement breastfeeding law to safeguard children from malnutrition, the main cause of children’s ailments in the country.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2016