Prof M R Khan speaks at a roundtable on 'Secure nutritious diet: Save children's lives' at the National Press Club in the city yesterday. On his rights is Dr Shamim Hayder Talukder and on his left is Prof MQ-K Talukder. Photo: STAR

Speakers at a roundtable yesterday said it is the right time for promoting breastfeeding as the toxicity of artificial infant formulas has been proved in laboratory tests.

They said the melamine contamination issue has once again reminded us that nothing can be the alternative to breast milk for physical and mental development of the babies.

The roundtable titled 'Secure nutritious diet: Save children's lives' was organised jointly by Save the Children UK and Eminence at the National Press Club in the city.

Highlighting the infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practice in the country, the speakers urged the government to take necessary steps to halt marketing of breast milk substitution.

They said the rate of early initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of childbirth is only 24 percent in the country while exclusive breastfeeding rate is 43 percent, which should be 100 percent.

“Our nutrition programme does not include food safety and food security and this leads to dispute like melamine contamination in the breast milk substitutes, said Prof MQK Talukder while chairing the session.

“We have to be determined that no artificial formulas would be allowed for our babies under two years,” said Prof MR Khan while speaking as chief guest.

He stressed the need for formulating a structure ensuring food security and increasing awareness to promote breast milk.

“It is good that the government of Bangladesh has developed policy and established baby-friendly hospital, still it needs to do a lot for supporting mothers to go through the right practice of breastfeeding,” said Josephine Ippi, nutrition manager of Unicef.

“We need specific regulations so that marketing of the breast milk substitutes should be halted soon and the medical professionals should not prescribe any artificial formulas for children,” said Dr SK Roy, senior scientist of ICDDR,B.

“In Bangladesh, breastfeeding could cut infant mortality by one-third saving the lives of 314 children everyday from killer diseases such as diarrhoea and pneumonia. At the same time, the total value of baby milk and food imports is almost 16 million pound per year, hundred times more than the government can afford to invest in supporting breastfeeding promotion, said Dr Shamim Hayder Talukder, chief executive of Eminence, while presenting the keynote paper.

There must be a global movement to protect our children, the next generation from the dilemma of profitability, said Major General Mahbubur Rahman.

The speakers also stressed the need for testing all milk and milk products that are available in the market and urged the Institute of Public Health and Nutrition (IPHN) and Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) to be more active in this regard.

Dr Munir Ahmed of Save the Children UK moderated the programme which was also addressed by Lalita Bhattacharjee of Fao, Quazi Faruque of Consumers Association of Bangladesh, Dr AM Zakir Hussain of Eminence, Prof M Abdul Hannan of Bangladesh Paediatric Association, Prof AKM Azizul Hoque of Bangladesh Medical Association, Prof Fatima Parveen of IPHN, M Hamid of RTV, GM Kader of Jatiya Party and Mahmudur Rahman Manna of Awami League.