Health Ministry proposes human milk banks

PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry has proposed the setting up of a human milk bank at its hospitals.
Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the proposal is in line with World Health Organisation guidelines that exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for babies up to six month of age, with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years or beyond.
Some infants are unable to consume their mother's milk for various reasons and a milk bank could alleviate this problem.
Globally, there are more than 300 human milk banks in over 38 countries.
With the proposal, Noor Hisham said a meeting was held yesterday with the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) Director-General Datuk Othman Mustapha, Health Ministry division directors, representatives from the Malaysian Pediatric Association and other stakeholders.
"The ministry will work closely with Jakim and other religious groups in establishing a standard operating procedure and ethics code that not only ensures human milk donors are clinically screened but also have a strict donor and recipient records system, including prohibiting any mixing of the donated milk from different donors," he added.

He said the identities of the donors and recipients will also be made known to each other to address concerns over mixing of bloodlines.