At a time when Pakistan’s first lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, Sindh health minister Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho and dozens of parliamentarians are uniting to strengthen breastfeeding laws and curb the marketing of formula milk, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has stirred controversy by praising infant formula during her visit to Japan.
During a tour of Morinaga’s headquarters and production plant today, Maryam invited the multinational company to expand its operations in Punjab, even declaring formula milk “good for the mental and physical well-being of children.”
The remarks came as she offered full government support for Morinaga to invest in Punjab’s dairy sector, alongside agreements on meat and animal breeding.
But her comments drew swift and sharp criticism from pediatricians, gynecologists, and public health experts in Pakistan, who warned that such statements undermine decades of evidence, common sense, and international health recommendations.
“The World Health Organization, UNICEF and every credible health authority stress that breast milk is the gold standard for infant nutrition. Formula is only necessary in rare cases of maternal illness or medical contraindication, not as a replacement for mother’s milk,” one pediatric expert said, calling the Punjab CM’s endorsement “deeply troubling.”
The contrast could not be starker. Just last week, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari stood alongside parliamentarians from multiple parties to sign a landmark joint declaration on breastfeeding and maternal nutrition.
The declaration urged strict enforcement of laws regulating breast milk substitutes, expanded maternity protections, and scaling up lactation support. Sindh’s health minister, Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, highlighted that the province passed South Asia’s most progressive breastfeeding protection law in 2023 despite fierce industry pressure. She argued that formula must remain regulated as a therapeutic good under DRAP, not reclassified as a mere food product.
Experts also underscored the economic and health costs of Pakistan’s formula fixation. The country spends over Rs110 billion annually on infant formula and baby foods, even though fewer than 2,000 newborns each year actually require breast milk substitutes due to maternal death or rare conditions.
National data show exclusive breastfeeding rates stuck at just 48.4 percent, far below the global target of 60 percent by 2030.
According to UNICEF and local researchers, raising breastfeeding rates could save 34,000 lives, prevent 2.8 million diarrheal cases, and reduce healthcare costs by $55 million annually.
Prof. Jamal Raza of the Sindh Institute of Child Health warned that breast milk is the “baby’s first vaccine and a gift of a lifetime,” while formula feeding exposes infants to infection, malnutrition, and higher long-term risks of obesity and heart disease.
“To suggest that formula is vital for growth ignores both science and lived realities in Pakistan,” he added.
Maryam Nawaz’s statement comes at a sensitive time, with global agencies and Pakistani lawmakers calling for stronger protections against the aggressive marketing of formula companies.
By positioning a multinational giant as a partner for Punjab’s dairy sector and promoting formula as beneficial, critics say the CM risks aligning the state’s health narrative with commercial interests rather than public health imperatives.
For a country already struggling with high rates of child malnutrition and stunting, experts argue that political leaders should be championing breast milk — the most natural, cost-effective, and protective food — not offering endorsements that could confuse parents and undermine national health goals.
Ends