PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department, in collaboration with UNICEF was observing World Breastfeeding Week to create awareness among women about the benefits of breast milk for new-born babies.
The Global Breastfeeding Month 2022 them/slogan is “ Step Up for Breastfeeding: Educate and Support”.
Director General Health Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Shaheen Afridi has said “Breastfeeding is the single most cost-effective public health intervention that can provide babies the best start to a healthy life.”
In a message on the occasion of launching global breast feeding month (August), he said that breastfeeding protect children from infections, and diseases like diarrhoea, building stronger immunity, and preventing new-born and child deaths.
“Seminars, walks and other activities will be organized in the districts of Peshawar Kohat, Abbottabad and other areas.”
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.
“In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, alongwith the merged districts, the norm is, to dedicate the entire month of August to advocacy for the protection, promotion and to generate support for breastfeeding in the province.”
In 2018, the World Health Assembly endorsed the celebration of WBW as an opportunity to communicate the importance of breastfeeding and advocate for the protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding everywhere.
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 the development.
DG Health said “Our provincial initiatives are totally in line with the global priorities as the province is moving towards making its hospitals and communities baby friendly (BFHI and BFCI) and at the same time is 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 can continue to breastfeed.”
He said “Breastfeeding protection law exists but needs stricter implementation and monitoring to curb the violations and unnecessary use of breast milk substitutes.”