PESHAWAR, Aug 7: About a million infants die annually in the world due to feeding of artificial formulas and non-availability of mother’s milk, according to United Nations Children’s Education Fund report, experts said at a seminar on Wednesday.

The speakers at the seminar entitled “Breast-feeding in a globalized world for peace and justice” stressed that if the globalization movement was used by the multinational companies to sell their infant formulas and other products, it could also be used to advocate breast-feeding.

The seminar was organized by a non-governmental organization, Blue Veins, to mark the world breast-feeding week”.

Reproductive Health Deputy Director Dr Shabina Raza said formula products could not replace mother’s milk as it contains anti-viral bodies and other components which created immunity in the child. She said milk of another woman should be given to the child if the mother’s milk was not available because it contained the maximum quantity of lactose, which helped in the growth of the mind.

She said stunted growth and high rate of infant mortality was the result of artificial feeding.

The purpose of the mass awareness campaign during the world breast-feeding week was to make mothers aware about the harmful effects of using dry milk and infant formulas, she said.

She said the infant formulas were not only expensive but also insufficient for the mental growth of the child in the first few years.

“There are almost 160 brands of imported infant formula in the market and we are  paying for them in dollars, which a poor country like ours cannot afford,” Dr Raza said.

Mothers who did not feed their babies are more vulnerable to diseases like breast cancer, she said.

National Assembly member Qari Fayyazur Rehman Alvi said Islam had emphasized bread-feeding and media could play an important role in highlighting its importance.

Blue Vein Chairperson Shaheen Quresh, writer Bushra Farrukh and a representative of the International Relief Committee also spoke.

They said the International Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes held the government institutions, NGOs, individuals and other organizations responsible for checking the unethical promotion of  those products and safeguarding the rights of the mother and the child.

They said the code was adopted in 1981 and it took Pakistan more than 20 years to promulgate the Protection of Breast-feeding and Child Nutrition Ordinance 2002. They said that under the ordinance, representation had also been given to the infant food industry in the National Infant Feeding Board and the representative would safeguard the multi-national companies interests.