PESHAWAR: The health department is enforcing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Protection of Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition Act 2015 to check sale of formula milk, encourage mother’s milk and take action against the national and multinational manufacturers for presenting their product as substitute to the mother’s milk.

There will be ban on selling of the products not carrying the message that “Mother’s milk is better for your baby and helps in preventing diarrhoea and other illnesses,” a statement said on Wednesday.

This was decided in the first meeting of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Infant Feeding Board with health minister Shahram Tarakai in the chair. The measure has been taken in line with the law to promote breastfeeding to ensure child nutrition and protect them from various ailments, it said.

The meeting decided to give 60 days to the makers of the formula milk to print the message on their products on 20 per cent space of the packet after which a complete ban will be imposed on marketing of artificial milk, it said.

It also decided to assign special task to drug inspectors to monitor the sale of formula milk.

The said law prohibits that no person shall in any manner assert that any designated product is a substitute to mother’s milk or that it is equivalent to mother’s milk, it said.