The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) has advised nursing mothers to embrace exclusive breastfeeding to improve the health status of their newborns.
The North West Director of the agency, Mrs. Josephine Dayilim, gave the advice at a one-day workshop on the ban on promotion of breast milk substitutes on Friday in Kaduna.
The workshop was organized by NAFDAC, in collaboration with the Care link Resource Foundation.
Dayilim, represented by Rahila Maishanu, NAFDAC Desk Officer in charge of breast milk substitutes in Kaduna, expressed the need for stakeholders to educate nursing mothers to maintain exclusive breastfeeding.
She said that nursing mothers needed to be sensitized on the dangers involved in using breast milk substitutes on their newborns.
He said that there was a code that expressly banned the inappropriate marketing and advertising of breast milk substitute.
She said that the code also banned the promotion of such products.
Dayilim called on stakeholders to adhere to the code, while urging them to also step down the initiative to their communities.
She appreciated their efforts towards sensitizing the public on the importance of embracing exclusive breastfeeding.
The participants at the workshop cut across various organizations, such as National Union of Road Transport Workers, traditional leaders and health workers, among others.
The participants promised to adhere to the code and implement it in their respective domains.
