Islamabad: Breastfeeding is a baby’s first vaccine—providing essential antibodies, nutrients, and immune protection in the earliest and most vulnerable days of life—yet millions of mothers around the world, including in Pakistan, are unable to initiate or sustain it due to systemic failures in healthcare.
On the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF jointly called on governments to invest in robust health systems that prioritize maternal and newborn care and ensure skilled breastfeeding support at every level.
WHO and Unicef say breast milk contains living cells, hormones, antibodies, and enzymes that not only protect infants from infectious diseases like diarrhoea and pneumonia but also reduce the risk of chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease later in life.
It fosters optimal brain development and strengthens the mother-child bond, while also contributing to better maternal health outcomes by lowering the risk of breast and ovarian cancers. Despite these well-established benefits, exclusive breastfeeding rates remain dangerously low.
Globally, only 48 per cent of infants under six months are exclusively breastfed, far below the World Health Assembly’s 2030 target of 60 per cent. The gap stems from a combination of weak health systems, lack of trained staff, commercial pressures from formula milk companies, and insufficient awareness.
In Pakistan, the challenge is even more severe. Rising reliance on breast milk substitutes, coupled with minimal government investment in maternal and child nutrition programs, has contributed to high rates of infant mortality and stunting.
In their joint statement from Geneva and New York, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell underscored the urgent need for countries to integrate breastfeeding support into all levels of maternal and child healthcare.
They highlighted that only a fifth of countries provide routine training on infant and young child feeding for doctors and nurses. As a result, the majority of mothers leave hospitals without proper guidance on initiating and continuing breastfeeding.
In Pakistan, where over six million babies are born each year, lactation counselling remains virtually absent in public hospitals, and community health workers often lack the knowledge or resources to guide mothers appropriately.
Experts say this lack of structured breastfeeding support—combined with widespread violations of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes—has undermined confidence in breastfeeding and fueled the demand for formula milk.
WHO and UNICEF emphasized that health systems must be strengthened to deliver consistent, evidence-based breastfeeding support, particularly during antenatal, delivery, and postnatal care.
They urged governments to allocate adequate national budgets for breastfeeding promotion and integrate lactation counselling into the routine responsibilities of healthcare providers. Community-based health networks, they said, are also vital in offering long-term support to mothers for sustained breastfeeding up to two years and beyond, in line with WHO recommendations.
The agencies reiterated that every dollar invested in breastfeeding yields an estimated $35 in economic returns by reducing healthcare expenditures and boosting human capital. Yet, in many countries, including Pakistan, funding for breastfeeding remains negligible—while multinational formula milk companies spend billions in aggressive marketing, often targeting vulnerable mothers in hospitals and clinics.
This year’s theme—“Prioritize breastfeeding: Create sustainable support systems”—is a call to action for governments, health professionals, and civil society to unite in ensuring that breastfeeding becomes a central pillar of maternal and child health policies.
WHO and UNICEF warned that continued neglect not only jeopardizes the health of newborns and mothers but also undermines national development goals.
Breastfeeding is not merely a personal choice but a public health necessity, they concluded. By investing in supportive health systems, countries like Pakistan can protect every child’s right to the safest and most natural start in life.
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