Ministry working on draft bill to regulate marketing of infant milk products: Report

Published: 09 April 2025

NT Bureau
Doha

The Ministry of Public Health is working on a draft law to regulate the marketing of infant milk products in the country, Asharq Al-Awsat has reported.

This bill is one of the initiatives the ministry has been seeking to pass for years, with the aim of regulat-ing the marketing of these substitutes and regulating their use for necessary cases only, according to the report.

This step aims to encourage mothers, especially new mothers, to breastfeed, given its health benefits for both mother and newborn.

According to the report, data showed an increase in breastfeeding rates for children in the State of Qatar aged (0-5 months) from 29.3% in 2012 to 45.4% in 2023.

Breastfeeding reduces the rates of breast and ovarian cancer for women, and contributes to reducing infection rates among newborns, and limits the incidence of respiratory diseases and allergies, and reduces the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

praised the initiative, which, in turn, raises parents’ awareness of the importance of breastfeeding, which will positively impact the health of both mother and newborn. The project will help curb the in-discriminate consumption of breast milk substitutes, which can double infection rates among new-borns and contribute to increased rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes among children and adoles-cents in the future.

Dr. Hekmat Al-Hamidi, a pediatric consultant, told Al Sharq: “These regulations contribute to tightening control over the quality of artificial milk imported from some countries that do not respect ethical val-ues in their production directed to the Arab region, which impacts children’s health and, consequently, the health of society.”

Ghada Abdel Aziz, a clinical nutritionist, emphasized the need to regulate the use of infant milk prod-ucts and limit them to the minimum, so that they are used only in cases where a mother is unable to breastfeed her child naturally.