Manufacturers, distributors violate breastfeeding promotion regulations

Accra, Nov. 10, GNA - Manufacturers, distributors as well as various health institutions violate the Breastfeeding Promotion Regulations in the country. This was revealed in a monitoring assessment conducted by the management of Food and Drugs Board (FDB) in collaboration with Ghana Health Service (GHS) last year.

The regulations adopted from the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes are part of efforts to protect, promote and support breastfeeding in Ghana. Mr Roderick Daddey-Adjei, Zonal Officer, Eastern and Volta Region of FDB announced these at a seminar on the dissemination of the 2008 report in Accra on Tuesday.

He explained that the exercise was to assess the level of compliance by the stakeholders and within the past five years, two major monitoring exercises have been conducted.

About 89 health institutions and distributors were involved in assessing the level of their knowledge and adherence of the regulations as well as baby friendliness of facilities. Mr Daddey-Adjei said the assessment made in Western, Northern, Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions, showed widespread display of ignorance of the regulations among health professionals and administrators of health institutions.

He said various logo and posters of infant formulas were found displayed at some of the health institutions, while health professionals confirmed occasional interactions through seminars and health talks by representatives of some manufacturing companies which clearly violated the regulations.

Mr Daddey-Adjei explained that the regulations ensured that nursing mothers had the right information concerning infant feeding and decided freely on how to feed their infants without undue pressure from manufacturers and distributors of breast milk substitutes as well as health personnel.

However, he noted that though infant formula played an important role in breastfeeding particularly in cases where nursing mothers could not breastfeed their infants due to death or medical reasons, the regulations did not eliminate commercial availability or prevent the sale of infant foods, bottles and teats, as well as freedom of choice. Mr Daddey-Adjei said it preserved the freedom of choice by limiting commercially motivated interference with breastfeeding and sought to control marketing practices.

He said the regulations prohibited manufacturers of infant formula from promoting and giving free or subsidised samples of infant formula, and the practices of health care professionals from discouraging breastfeeding. Mr Daddey-Adjei commended the management of GHS for its effort in ensuring the widespread knowledge of the six months breastfeeding promotion among nursing mothers nationwide and the willingness of health professionals to promote the programme.

However, he expressed concern about the conflict of interest, where the FDB was faced with the dilemma of registering non-compliant products due to equally strong medical concerns.

Mrs Ernestina Agyepong, a Representative of UNICEF, called for the institutionalisation of monitoring systems in health institutions to help eliminate violation of the regulations and educate health professionals on its implementation and enforcement.

She called on stakeholders to comply with the regulation to help protect the health of children and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. 10 Nov. 09