50pc of infants deprived of mother’s milk in KP; report
PESHAWAR
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health secretary Dr Ameer Khan Tareen has said awareness of breastfeeding could save lives of millions of children under the age of five, adding the government must ensure implementation of existing breastfeeding protection law to curb the violations and unnecessary use of breast milk substitutes in the province.
He expressed these views while speaking to the “launching Ceremony Global Breastfeeding Month August-2022”.
In order to protect, promote and support breastfeeding, the World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) was established in 1992 to celebrate the importance of breastfeeding and is celebrated annually from the 1 -7 August every year.
The KP government has dedicated the whole of August to advocacy for the protection, promotion and to generate support for breastfeeding in the province.
Director General Health Shaheen Afridi, UNICEF representative, Abdullah Muhammad Yousaf, and Director Nutrition Dr Fazal Majeed also shared their views on the importance of the month about Breastfeeding.
The speakers of the program informed that Since, 2015, the global breastfeeding week focuses on the contribution of breastfeeding towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Every year there is a theme, and the advocacy revolves around creating awareness and highlighting the contribution of breastfeeding to that area of development. The Global Breastfeeding Month August 2022 they /slogan is “Setup Up for Breastfeeding: Educate and Support,” they added.
Director General Health Shaheen Afridi said that breastfeeding plays an important role in managing the double burden (under and over nutrition) of malnutrition, adding that it provides food security and reduces inequality. He elaborated that building the capacity of health care providers in the health system through education and transformation of the existing systems, will help ensure breastfeeding- friendly healthcare facilities, supportive communities and workplaces.
Protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding addresses inequalities that stand in the way of sustainable development, adding that these were evidence-based interventions with proven results across the globe, he added.
Director Nutrition Dr Fazal Majeed said that KP government initiatives were totally in line with the global priorities as the province was moving towards making its hospitals and communities baby friendly.
He claimed that the provincial government was establishing breastfeeding rooms in major hospitals and institutions to inculcate the culture of, normalizing breastfeeding and provide privacy to mothers outside their homes so they could continue to breastfeed.
Carry awareness campaigns and training packages to build the capacity of health care providers to help mothers with common breastfeeding difficulties were some other aspects to improve breastfeeding rates across the province, he added.
