The National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has advocated exclusive breastfeeding for newborns to increase health status and lower the risk of ovarian cancers for mothers.

This is contained in a statement by the agency’s resident media consultant, Olusayo Akintola, on Sunday in Abuja.

Mr Akintola said that NAFDAC director-general, Mojisola Adeyeye, gave the charge during the celebration of the 2024 World Breastfeeding week in Lagos.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All. “

Mrs Adeyeye was represented by Eva Edwards, director, food safety and applied nutrition. She said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended early initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of a baby’s birth until the first six months.

According to her, after the six months of exclusive breastfeeding, it should be complemented with safe and appropriate foods, while breastfeeding continues for up to two years or beyond.

The director-general said breastfed babies have stronger immunity, face lower risk of suffering many childhood illnesses and infections.

The NAFDAC boss added that the situation was also associated with longer-term health benefits, including higher Intelligence Quotient (IQ) for infants that were exclusively breastfed.

She said that the World Breastfeeding week was celebrated annually to create awareness and generate support for improved breastfeeding practices for infants and young children.

Mrs Adeyeye said that the theme of this year’s celebration highlighted the need to improve breastfeeding support to reduce health inequities with a special focus on breastfeeding in times of emergencies and crises.

She said that the theme also highlighted the need to protect the right of mothers and babies to survive and thrive.

She said that it was the collective responsibility of all to ensure that every mother received the support she needed to make breastfeeding a successful and fulfilling experience.

The director-general decried lack of support for women to optimally breastfeed their babies.

She cited limited access to trained personnel, empathetic and respectful health advice, and counselling throughout the woman’s breastfeeding journey as part of the challenge.

She revealed that the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey of 2018, showed that 97 per cent of children were breastfed in Nigeria at one point or the other.

According to her, only 42 per cent of the children were breastfed within one hour of birth.

She further disclosed that the proportion of children 0-6 months who were exclusively breastfed is 29 per cent.

“The 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey puts the figure for exclusive breastfeeding at approximately 34 per cent,” she said.

She expressed delight that both figures showed improvement in national exclusive breastfeeding figures from the previous 17 per cent.

She, however, said that the figure still fell short of the WHO’s target of increasing the exclusive breastfeeding rate to at least 50 per cent by the year 2025.

‘’This, therefore, calls for action from all of us in our respective capacities as breastfeeding actors to accelerate progress and scale optimal breastfeeding practices in order to achieve the global target.

“Mothers need support like food supplementation, from the health system, family members, community members, and from the work place. This support is critical to the success of breastfeeding, ” she said.

She said that breastfeeding played a significant role in the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 3, which address ending hunger, improving nutrition and promoting health and wellbeing.

She further disclosed that breastfeeding was one of the critical pathways to reducing under-five mortality, and is the baby’s first food system.

(NAN)