Abuja: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for stricter enforcement of Nigeria’s law regulating the marketing of breast milk substitutes to protect exclusive breastfeeding and improve child survival. The Deputy Representative, Programmes, UNICEF Nigeria, Dr. Rownak Khan, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Khan highlighted that aggressive promotion of infant formula continued to undermine breastfeeding, emphasizing that no substitute matched the nutritional, health, and developmental benefits of a mother’s breast milk. Representatives of baby food companies often target new mothers at health facilities, making stronger enforcement of existing regulations and public awareness campaigns imperative across the country.
“There is actually a law globally, and also in Nigeria, not to promote breast milk substitutes. We have to really enforce the law very, very strictly,” Khan stated. She added that UNICEF was supporting the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to enforce the newly gazetted breast milk substitute regulations and monitor digital marketing practices.
Khan stressed that enforcement alone would not address the challenge, highlighting the need to educate mothers and families on the dangers of inappropriate infant feeding practices and prevailing misconceptions. Many families wrongly believe infant formula makes babies healthier, while unsafe water used in preparing formula exposes children to infections and other preventable health complications.
She outlined that the 2026 World Breastfeeding Week theme, ‘Sustaining Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen Workforces,’ underscored the need for supportive policies and environments for nursing mothers. Despite nearly 90 percent of Nigerian women initiating breastfeeding, only about 29 percent sustain exclusive breastfeeding, depriving children of its lifelong health and developmental benefits.
Khan noted that Nigeria’s breastfeeding indicators had either stagnated or declined, requiring urgent action from government, communities, employers, health workers, families, and development partners. Early initiation of breastfeeding declined from 42 percent in the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey to 23 percent in recent findings, while exclusive breastfeeding stagnated with only three out of every ten women practicing it.
She identified paid maternity leave, breastfeeding-friendly workplaces, health worker capacity building, and stronger antenatal counseling as critical measures for improving breastfeeding practices nationwide. Workplaces should provide dedicated breastfeeding spaces for mothers returning after childbirth, while communities should challenge harmful cultural beliefs discouraging exclusive breastfeeding.
UNICEF is supporting the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and state governments to implement policies promoting breastfeeding and maternal nutrition across Nigeria. The organization recently partnered with the ministry to roll out the national 1,000 Days Campaign aimed at improving nutrition from pregnancy until a child’s second birthday.
Khan added that exclusive breastfeeding also reduced women’s risk of certain cancers and contributed to healthy child spacing, providing additional health and economic benefits for families. She urged Nigerians to reject myths surrounding breastfeeding and collectively support mothers to give every child the healthiest possible start in life.
NAN reports that NAFDAC Marketing (Breast-Milk Substitutes) Regulations, 2025, prohibits the promotion, advertising, and improper marketing of breast-milk substitutes and empowers the relevant authority to make implementing regulations. The regulations seek to protect breastfeeding by prohibiting the promotion of infant formula and related products to the public, banning gifts and free samples to mothers, and restricting marketing activities within health facilities.