Pakistani families spend over $888 million annually on formula milk

According to Profit by Pakistan Today, households in Pakistan put over $888 million, equal to Rs248 billion, into formula milk every year. At the 28th biennial meeting of the Pakistan Paediatric Association in Islamabad, specialists estimated that roughly 33,700 children die annually because of inadequate breastfeeding.

The experts put the economic cost of inadequate breastfeeding at about $2.8 billion a year, and noted that only 48.4% of Pakistani infants are exclusively breastfed. Under-five mortality is recorded at 58 per 1,000 live births. Babies under six months without breastfeeding have a death risk fifteen times that of exclusively breastfed babies, mostly from diarrhoea and pneumonia.

Specialists criticised aggressive promotion of formula milk and the sponsorship of healthcare professionals by commercial firms, calling for tighter rules on breastfeeding protection and limits on industry-funded activities. Other gaps flagged at the conference include congenital heart disease, drug-resistant infections, air pollution and HIV, with new HIV infections among children reaching 1,800 in 2023, up from about 530 in 2010.