• Govt to launch Breastfeeding Week today
• Health minister Pechuho says exclusive breastfeeding for six months protects children from diarrhoea, pneumonia, and malnutrition

KARACHI: The Sindh government on Friday launched World Breastfeeding Week with a renewed commitment to strictly enforce the province’s law against the promotion of infant formula and expand the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative to improve breastfeeding practices and maternal and child health across the province.

Launching the week-long global campaign, followed by Breastfeeding Month throughout August, Sindh Health and Population Welfare Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho said breastfeeding remained one of the most effective interventions for protecting newborns, improving child nutrition and reducing infant mortality.

She said the government would strengthen implementation of the Sindh Protection and Promotion of Breast-feeding and Young Child Nutrition Act, which prohibits the promotion, advertising and marketing of infant formula, breastmilk substitutes and commercial complementary foods intended for children up to three years of age.

Dr Pechuho said the government would remain vigilant in enforcing the law to protect families from unethical commercial practices that discourage breastfeeding and undermine mothers’ confidence.

The minister said Sindh was also expanding the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative by transforming tertiary, district and regional hospitals into baby-friendly institutions where mothers are supported to initiate breastfeeding within the first hour after birth, newborns receive immediate skin-to-skin contact and unnecessary formula feeding is discouraged.

She said more than 3,000 healthcare providers had already been trained in clinical lactation management, breastfeeding counselling and maternal nutrition to strengthen breastfeeding support across public health facilities.

Dr Pechuho said exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life, followed by the timely introduction of safe, nutrient-rich homemade complementary foods while continuing breastfeeding, protects children against severe diarrhoea, pneumonia and acute malnutrition.

Along with routine immunisation, she said, optimal breastfeeding remains one of the most effective ways to improve child survival and health.

Marking this year’s World Breastfeeding Week under the global theme, “Breastfeeding for a Sustainable Start in Life: Strengthen What Works,” the minister urged healthcare professionals, civil society organisations, the media and families to work together to create an environment where every mother receives the support needed to breastfeed successfully.

Supporting the campaign, Unicef said breastfeeding was a shared responsibility and a cornerstone of child survival, nutrition and development, calling on governments, healthcare professionals, employers, communities and families to strengthen the support systems mothers need to breastfeed successfully.

Unicef Sindh Chief of Field Office Prem Bahadur Chand said investing in evidence-based policies and services and protecting breastfeeding would help ensure that every child in Pakistan received the healthiest possible start in life.

He said Unicef would support a series of advocacy, awareness, community engagement and media activities throughout August across the country to encourage collective action to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2026