First Lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, and lawmakers from a wide political spectrum have signed a landmark joint declaration to strengthen Pakistan\u2019s laws and protections for breastfeeding and child nutrition. The move signals a unified and high-level political commitment to prioritize child health, empower mothers, and overcome barriers to optimal breastfeeding practices nationwide.<\/p>\n
The declaration was signed during the Parliamentarian Advocacy Forum on the Prevention, Protection, and Support of Breastfeeding, an event jointly organized by UNICEF and the Women Parliamentary Caucus at the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services. The document treats breastfeeding as a national investment\u2014critical for the health and development of the country\u2014and calls for strict enforcement of regulations on breastmilk substitute marketing, enhanced workplace protections for mothers, and widespread community engagement to transform harmful social norms.<\/p>\n
First Lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, newly elected MNA for NA-207, endorsed the declaration, representing strong political support at the national level. Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho underscored the necessity of keeping formula milk regulated under the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, describing it as a medicine requiring strict controls. She also highlighted the significant resistance faced during the passage of the Sindh Protection and Promotion of Breastfeeding and Young Child Nutrition Act but emphasized her government\u2019s resolve not to yield to industry pressure.<\/p>\n
Dr Pechuho announced new initiatives in Sindh, including the hiring of lactation counsellors and therapists, providing micronutrient supplements for pregnant women, and ongoing efforts to increase breastfeeding rates. She linked the absence of mother\u2019s milk in early childhood to a rise in non-communicable diseases such as heart attacks and strokes.<\/p>\n
UNICEF\u2019s Representative in Pakistan, Pernille Ironside, encouraged lawmakers to adopt Sindh\u2019s strong breastfeeding protections across the country, calling for increased investment in gender-responsive healthcare systems and reinforced commitment to maternal and child nutrition. UNICEF Nutrition Chief Anteneh Girma Minas described the gathering, marked by the participation of the First Lady, as a significant policy milestone.<\/p>\n
Professor Jamal Raza, Executive Director of the Sindh Institute of Child Health and Neonatology, presented data showing Pakistan loses approximately US$2.8 billion annually due to low breastfeeding rates, with over US$888 million spent yearly on breastmilk substitutes. Exclusive breastfeeding rates are just 48.4 percent in Pakistan, well below the global target, he said, warning that formula feeding increases infection, malnutrition, and long-term health risks for infants. Raising exclusive breastfeeding rates to 70 percent could save thousands of child lives each year and greatly reduce healthcare costs.<\/p>\n
Women Parliamentary Caucus Secretary Dr Shahida Rehmani emphasized breastfeeding\u2019s critical role in reducing infant mortality and improving maternal health. Professor Masood Sadiq, President of the Pakistan Paediatric Association, called for at least six months\u2019 maternity leave, a ban on the advertisement of breastmilk substitutes on social media, and federal legislation modeled after Sindh\u2019s law to protect breastfeeding. He also advocated for the adoption of \u2018kangaroo care\u2019 in hospitals to strengthen mother-child bonding and improve outcomes for newborns.<\/p>\n
Other UNICEF specialists highlighted the country\u2019s malnutrition crisis and its damaging health and economic impacts, especially the consequences of low breastfeeding rates and the promotion of substitutes.<\/p>\n
The joint declaration commits lawmakers to champion breastfeeding-friendly legislation, rigorously enforce existing laws, integrate breastfeeding promotion into all layers of the health system, and secure long-term funding for maternal and child nutrition. Lawmakers from across major parties\u2014PPP, PML-N, PTI, JUI-F, and MQM\u2014many of them women, pledged to work together to protect children from the harmful effects of aggressive breastmilk substitute marketing and to ensure a healthier future for Pakistan\u2019s youngest citizens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
First Lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, and lawmakers from a wide political spectrum have signed a landmark joint declaration to strengthen Pakistan\u2019s laws and protections for breastfeeding and child nutrition. The move signals a unified and high-level political commitment to prioritize child health, empower mothers, and overcome barriers to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":8638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8637"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8639,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8637\/revisions\/8639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}