Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousuf announced a national movement to promote breastfeeding, framing it as a divine obligation grounded in Quranic guidance and the sayings of Prophet Muhammad PBUH. He told a national consultation in Islamabad that infants in Pakistan continue to die from diarrhea, pneumonia and malnutrition when families abandon breastfeeding without medical reason, and urged religious leaders to treat breastfeeding as both a health priority and a moral duty.
The event, organised by the Ministry of Religious Affairs in collaboration with UNICEF, brought together leading ulema, health experts and representatives of minority faiths to endorse a joint declaration calling for religious mobilisation, community education, strict regulation of formula milk marketing and the creation of supportive spaces for mothers. UNICEF’s Fahmida Khan presented the declaration, which was unanimously backed by the assembled scholars and community leaders.
Allama Raghib Naeemi emphasised the scale of the challenge, noting nearly six million children are born in Pakistan each year while only about 2,000 infants medically require formula after losing their mothers. He warned that most children are born fully nourished by nature through breastmilk, which protects against infections, supports mental development and fosters the mother-child bond. He described rising dependence on formula as costly and harmful, saying families spend over 110 billion rupees annually on formula milk despite religious instruction to breastfeed for two years to 30 months.
UNICEF Deputy Representative Sharmeela Rasool highlighted the public health and development implications of expanding breastfeeding, noting that around 40 percent of children in Pakistan remain stunted and hundreds of newborns are lost each day to preventable causes. She said stronger breastfeeding practices can reduce mortality, conserve water used in formula preparation and save nearly 900 million dollars currently spent on formula in the country.
Speakers urged concrete measures to revive breastfeeding, including mobilising scholars to dedicate time in Friday sermons, creating worship and breastfeeding-friendly spaces in mosques, and establishing secure breastfeeding areas for working mothers. Allama Tahir Ashrafi called for action against clinics and aesthetic centres that discourage breastfeeding and urged joint conferences of ulema and healthcare professionals to dispel myths and encourage early and exclusive breastfeeding.
Health experts at the consultation underscored clinical priorities such as initiating breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and promoting exclusive breastfeeding where medically appropriate. Dr Maqbool Hussain of the Pakistan Pediatric Association outlined the broad health benefits and cautioned that formula feeding raises risks of infections and long-term complications. Other contributors, including Dr Saba Shuja and Dr Muhammad Salman, reviewed national breastfeeding indicators and reinforced calls for policy and community-level support.
The ministry said it will work with UNICEF to mobilise scholars and community leaders nationwide to counter commercial promotion of breastmilk substitutes and restore breastfeeding as a national public health, moral and religious priority. Participants from diverse schools of thought and faiths voiced support for a unified, nationwide campaign to protect infant health and empower mothers to breastfeed with dignity.
