SICHN Suspends Human Milk Bank Amid Religious Review

KARACHI: The Sindh Institute of Child Health and Neonatology (SICHN) has temporarily suspended operations of its Human Milk Bank following a revised fatwa issued by Darul Uloom Karachi, here on Friday.

As per the details, the initiative, originally launched as Pakistan’s first Shariah-compliant Human Milk Bank in collaboration with UNICEF, aimed to provide essential nourishment to premature and critically ill infants by offering pasteurized donor milk from lactating mothers.

The milk bank was established in December 2023 after obtaining a fatwa from Darul Uloom Karachi, ensuring its alignment with Islamic principles.

This fatwa outlined several key conditions, such as maintaining complete donor records, ensuring the milk is free of cost, and only providing milk from Muslim donors to Muslim recipients

Despite adhering to these guidelines, a recent fatwa issued on June 16, 2024, has prompted SICHN to pause the milk bank’s operations to seek further guidance from both Darul Uloom Karachi and the Council of Islamic Ideology.

Earlier this week, the Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho had inaugurated the Pakistan’s first Shariah-compliant ‘Human Milk Bank’ and Early Childhood Centre at the Sindh Institute of Child Health and Neonatology (SICHN) in Korangi, Karachi.

After the inauguration, the Prof Raza had said that complete records of the donors and children would be kept at the institute and provided to the parents to ensure the facility is Shariah-compliant.

A team from SICHN will be sent to some Islamic countries for training to operate the Human Milk Bank effectively, he added. He emphasized the importance of educating society about the operations of a Human Milk Bank, the first in Pakistan, to alleviate concerns and misconceptions.