He was speaking at a media seminar on the world breastfeeding week.

Various steps taken to ban those advertisements have been inadequate as they are not supported by a strong legal framework, said Dr. Mahipala.

He said that out of 121 countries, Sri Lanka topped the list this year with 92 per cent of mothers breastfeeding their babies.

This achievement should be taken forward to increase the figure to 95 pc, he said.

Breastfeeding sees a declines after the infants reach four months of age, and mothers should be encouraged to breastfeed until at least the infants reach six months of age, he added.