ACCRA, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana's Parliament Tuesday passed a legislation on breast-feeding, banning the sale, promotion or advertisement of any breast-feed substitute, described as "designated product", in any health facility.

The breast-feeding promotion regulation seeks, among other objectives, to encourage nursing mothers to use breast milk, which has been scientifically determined as more hygienic and nutritionally superior to substitutes.

The legislative instrument interprets designated product as including infant formula, any other product marketed or otherwise represented as substitute for feeding infants up to six months of age, follow-up formula, feeding bottles, teats and pacifiers.

In a motion, Nana Akufo Addo, chairman of the parliamentary committee on subsidiary legislation, said research conducted under the auspices of WHO indicates that natural breast milk is the best source of good nutrition for infants.

He said it has now been scientifically established that breast milk substitutes are harmful to the health of both mother and infant.

"These substitutes contribute greatly to high infant mortality as they are a persistent source of diarrhoea and respiratory diseases," the research report said.

It noted that rural poverty, ignorance by illiterate mothers of the methods for the preparation of breast-feed substitutes, as well as the unhygienic conditions under which such food is prepared, aggravates the situation.

It said natural breast-feeding, which is usually readily available in sufficient quantities, is much better for both mother and child.

"Scientific evidence shows that the nutritional value is far superior to that of substitutes. Additionally, modern psychology tells us that natural breast-feeding facilitates the bonding between mother and infant," Addo said.

Therefore, he added that there is every need "in a society, such as ours, with unfortunately a large illiterate base, not only to widen and deepen public education about the ill effects of dependence on substitutes, but also to take positive steps to discourage their use and to narrow access to them".

The law prescribes a wide range of measures, including the banning of sales or promotion of designated products, in every health care facility.

It prohibits the distribution of samples of designated products to health care premises or to health care personnel and requests that manufacture and expiry dates must be exhibited on the labels of designated products.

Anyone who contravenes any of the regulations commits an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding five million cedis or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both. (1 US dollar = 4,500 cedis.)

Ghana's legislators said if the law is vigorously implemented, it would provide an effective shield against the activities of the merchants of breast milk substitutes, who continue to make unholy profits out of the ignorance of illiterate women.