The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has called for compliance with the Marketing Breast Milk Substitutes (BMS) Code, emphasizing that its failure affects infant nutrition.
The call was made by the BMS desk officer in Kaduna, Rahila Maishanu, during a media and stakeholders’ roundtable on Maternal Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) in Kaduna. Maishanu urged Nigerians to ensure malnutrition is checked in Kaduna and stressed that implementing the BMS code is essential for promoting optimal infant and young child feeding for child survival, growth, and development.
She also called on the media to reject advertisements promoting breast milk substitute products. In addition, Sarah Kwasu, the zonal coordinator of Alive & Thrive, advised pregnant women to use Multiple Micronutrients Supplement (MMS) in place of Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) as it contains 15 essential vitamins and minerals for a healthy pregnancy and baby.
“The risk of infant mortality (from 0-6 months of age) decreases by 29 percent when a mother with anemia takes MMS during pregnancy, reducing the risk of a child being stillborn by 26 percent among anemic, pregnant women.
“Taking MMS by pregnant women reduces the risk of a child being born underweight to anemic pregnant women by 19 percent, reduce the risk of a child being born pre-term by eight percent. Among pregnant, underweight women, the risk decreases by 18 percent,” she said.
