…Celebrates World Breastfeeding Week
Rivers State Government said that it is committed to achieving the target set by World Health Assembly that calls for exclusive breast-feeding in at least 50% children by 2025.
The Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Health, Mrs Caroline Wali disclosed this in a broadcast to mark the formal flag-off for this year’s 2019 world breast-feeding week celebration.
She said that Rivers State will continue to promote enabling work environment including social structures that support mothers and their families in breast-feeding.
She urged everybody to support breast-feeding as a child survival strategy, empower parents to enable breast-feeding while creating enabling environment where mothers can breast-feed optimally.
Chronicling the activities lined up for this year’s celebration, she said that the activities are meant to inform and educate the public about breast-feeding, engage individuals and organizations to articulate critical activities that will protect, promote and support breastfeeding as a government policy and best practice.
“You are aware that breastfeeding is the most single cost effective way of feeding infants and young children in our society. It provides adequate food and nutrients from the first day of life up to two years and beyond.
“Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life is known to yield tremendous health benefit for both mother and baby. It provides the baby with critical nutrients and protection from diseases such as pneumonea, leukaemia, obesity, diabeties and can help to reduce the mother’s risk of developing ovarian and breast cancer”, she hinted.
Mrs Wali also said that this year’s celebration which has “Empower Parents, Enable Breastfeeding” as it’s theme focused on informing people about the links between gender equitable parental social protection and breastfeeding as well as anchoring parent friendly values and gender equitable social norms at all levels to support breastfeeding and stressed the need to engage with individuals and organizations for greater impact.
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated world-wide every 1st to 7th August, to create massive awareness, protect, promote and support breastfeeding around the world while drawing the attention of the general populace to the importance of exclusive Breastfeeding.
