Kampala – Every 12 months the first week of August is designated as the World Breastfeeding Week and the Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF, and companions in Uganda join the relaxation of the world in Commemorating the World Breastfeeding Week.
This 12 months’s theme: “Prioritize Breastfeeding: Invent sustainable enhance systems” offers us with the opportunity and platform to come by and promote breastfeeding as a resounding foundation for lifelong effectively being, pattern, and equity, and a vital funding in the future. This 12 months’s commemoration will particularly abet shine a relate highlight on the enhance that females and babies want from the healthcare machine thru their breastfeeding roam.
Breastfeeding ensures that every minute one has the simplest conceivable delivery up in existence. It offers nutritional, psychological, and emotional advantages to each and every minute one and mother. Breastfeeding is additionally linked to economic teach as a consequence of its build in cognitive pattern and thinking, which has an impression on education attainment, job engagement, and lifetime earnings.
The Uganda Demographic and Health See 2022 reveals grand strides registered in enhancing the breastfeeding rates in the nation. The list indicates original breastfeeding rates in minute one 0-6 months at 94%; whereas 96% of formative years were reported to having ever breastfed. In addition, 82% were reported to were build aside on the breast interior one hour of delivery whereas 86% were build aside pores and skin-to-pores and skin to the mother interior the first hour of delivery to advertise breast feeding. These statistics replicate the vital efforts undertaken by the authorities of the republic of Uganda to advertise breastfeeding.
Regardless of all the above achievements, a lot of additional work remains to be undertaken to protect the gains made, with relate point of curiosity on the most susceptible mothers and babies and those in most advanced of situations that hinder profitable breastfeeding.
We want to continue promoting breastfeeding, supporting enforcement of the International Code of Marketing and marketing of Breast milk Substitutes, gather sure that females maintain entry to breastfeeding counselling and enhance along with the information, advice, reassurance, and confidence they want to nourish their babies optimally. We want to point of curiosity enhance for breastfeeding untimely babies thru scaling up the setup of breast milk banks for the duration of the nation.
WHO, UNICEF, and the Uganda Ministry of Health call on all companions together with the non-public sector to affix us and enhance breastfeeding as a lifesaving measure, thru all on hand avenues together with advocacy, ability building, engagement with traditional, cultural, and non secular leaders, legislation, and community engagement/mobilization.
WHO and UNICEF reaffirm their strong commitment to continue working with and supporting the Ministry of Health to continue to strengthen the effectively being machine required to adequately enhance mothers to successfully breastfeed to protect and further toughen the present national breastfeeding rates.
