FDA urges stronger support for breastfeeding as Ghana marks World Breastfeeding Week
FDA calls for stronger workplace, healthcare, family and community support to promote exclusive breastfeeding and improve child health
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has called on government, employers, healthcare professionals, families, communities and other stakeholders to strengthen measures that promote and support breastfeeding in Ghana.
The call forms part of the Authority’s commemoration of World Breastfeeding Week 2026 under the theme “Breastfeeding for a sustainable start in life: strengthen what works.”
According to the FDA, breastfeeding remains one of the most effective and cost-efficient public health interventions for improving child survival, nutrition and development.
It said breast milk provides all the nutrients an infant requires during the first six months of life and helps protect children against diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory infections, childhood obesity and other illnesses. Continued breastfeeding alongside appropriate complementary feeding up to two years and beyond also contributes to healthy growth, cognitive development and lifelong wellbeing.
The Authority noted that breastfeeding also offers health benefits to mothers, including reducing the risk of breast and ovarian cancers, supporting postpartum recovery and strengthening the emotional bond between mothers and their children.
The FDA further highlighted the environmental benefits of breastfeeding, explaining that breast milk is a natural, renewable source of infant nutrition that requires no manufacturing, packaging or transportation, thereby reducing environmental waste and supporting sustainable food systems.
However, the Authority identified aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes, changing lifestyles, workplace constraints, misinformation and inadequate family and community support as some of the challenges undermining optimal breastfeeding practices in Ghana.
The FDA said it remains committed to protecting breastfeeding through the implementation and enforcement of the Breastfeeding Promotion Regulation, 2000 (L.I. 1667), which regulates the marketing and distribution of breastmilk substitutes in Ghana.
It said it continues to monitor compliance, conduct market surveillance, educate stakeholders and collaborate with partners to ensure mothers receive accurate, evidence-based information to make informed infant-feeding decisions.
As part of this year’s activities, the FDA said it will collaborate with the Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service, Ubora Quality Institute, the media and other stakeholders to promote breastfeeding through nationwide public education and regulatory enforcement.
The Authority will also draw attention to innovations such as Breastmilk Banks, which have been established to make breast milk available in hospitals.
The FDA has encouraged mothers and caregivers to initiate breastfeeding within the first hour after birth, practise exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and continue breastfeeding alongside appropriate complementary feeding up to two years or beyond.
It also urged employers to create breastfeeding-friendly workplaces by providing flexible work arrangements, nursing breaks and safe, hygienic spaces for breastfeeding or expressing and storing breast milk.
Healthcare professionals have been urged to provide consistent, evidence-based counselling and support to mothers throughout pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period, while health facilities have been encouraged to establish Breastmilk Banks.
The FDA also called on families and communities to provide the emotional, practical and social support mothers need to sustain breastfeeding, and urged the media to disseminate accurate information and counter misinformation.
Manufacturers, importers and distributors of breastmilk substitutes have further been directed to comply with L.I. 1667 and uphold ethical marketing practices that protect breastfeeding.
The FDA stressed that protecting breastfeeding is a shared responsibility, saying coordinated support from government, healthcare workers, employers, communities and families is essential to giving every child the best possible start in life.
Mike 105.3FM | Navrongo | David Adapuna
