By Doris Obinna
World Breastfeeding Week is an annual celebration, from August 1 to 7, in more than 120 countries.
The 2022 theme for World Breastfeeding Week 2022, “Step up for breastfeeding: Educate and support,” seeks to involve government, communities and individuals.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival: “However, nearly two out of three infants are not exclusively breastfed for the recommended six months, a rate that has not improved in two decades.”
Speaking on the matter, permanent secretary, Ministry of Health, Lagos, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye, has called for acollective responsibility in the fight against malnutrition, as all hands must be on deck to ensure that all nursing mothers are supported to give the meal which nature has provided at no cost, pure, safe and in the right mixture adequate for babies.
According to him, exclusive breastfeeding is known to protect babies from severe complications arising from gastro-enteritis, pneumonia and other childhood killer diseases, explaining that about 60 per cent of under-five mortalities are largely due to malnutrition caused by poor breastfeeding practices and inadequate complementary feeding.
“Though the state fares better in breastfeeding data, such as exclusive breastfeeding rate, which is 51.8 per cent, Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS 2018), compared to the national figure of 29 per cent (NDHS 2019), however, there is still a lot of work to be done by all of us to get to the national target of 65 per cent by year 2025.
“The fight against malnutrition in children can only be won through collective efforts of all. It is important to ensure that all children are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life, and thereafter followed by adequate complementary feeding with continued breast feeding for up to two years of age.”
Breast milk, according to WHO, is the ideal food for infants. It is safe, clean and contains antibodies that help protect against many common childhood illnesses.
“Breast milk provides all the energy and nutrients that the infant needs for the first months of life, and it continue to provide up to half or more of a child’s nutritional needs during the second half of the first year, and up to one third during the second year of life.
“Breastfed children perform better on intelligence tests, are less likely to be overweight or obese and less prone to diabetes later in life. Women who breastfeed also have a reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancers.
“Inappropriate marketing of breast-milk substitutes continues to undermine efforts to improve breastfeeding rates and duration worldwide.”
Also, a joint statement by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), executive director, Catherine Russell and WHO director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week stated that, as global crises continue to threaten the health and nutrition of millions of babies and children, the vital importance of breastfeeding as the best possible start in life is more critical than ever.
Commemorating the theme, UNICEF and WHO are calling on governments to allocate increased resources to protect, promote and support breastfeeding policies and programmes, especially for the most vulnerable families living in emergency settings.
“During emergencies, breastfeeding guarantees a safe, nutritious and accessible food source for babies and young children. It offers a powerful line of defense against disease and all forms of child malnutrition, including wasting.
“Breastfeeding also acts as a baby’s first vaccine, protecting them from common childhood illnesses.
“Yet the emotional distress, physical exhaustion, lack of space and privacy, and poor sanitation experienced by mothers in emergency settings mean that many babies are missing out on the benefits of breastfeeding to help them survive.
“Fewer than half of all newborn babies are breastfed in the first hour of life, leaving them more vulnerable to disease and death. And only 44 per cent of infants are exclusively breastfed in the first six months of life, short of the World Health Assembly target of 50 per cent by 2025.
“Protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding is more important than ever, not just for protecting our planet as the ultimate natural, sustainable, first food system, but also for the survival, growth and development of millions of infants.”
However, Lagos state government has restated its commitment to the provision and sustenance of a breastfeeding-friendly environment by strengthening the capacity of actors; including policy makers, healthcare providers, and community influencers to protect, promote and support breastfeeding across different levels of the society.
Outlining planned activities of the state government to commemorate the Y2022 world breastfeeding week (WBW) noted that the ultimate responsibility of government for this year’s WBW celebration is to inform, educate and empower the actors to provide and sustain breastfeeding-friendly environments.
Meanwhile, UNICEF and WHO are calling on governments, donors, civil society and the private sector to step up efforts to prioritize investing in breastfeeding support policies and programmes, especially in fragile and food insecure contexts; equip health and nutrition workers in facilities and communities with the skills they need to provide quality counselling and practical support to mothers to successfully breastfeed; protect caregivers and health-care workers from the unethical marketing influence of the formula industry by fully adopting and implementing the International code of marketing of breast-milk substitutes, including in humanitarian settings; and implement family-friendly policies that provide mothers with the time, space and support they need to breastfeed.