The
Director of the Health Promotion and Education Unit under the Ministry of
Health and Social Welfare has challenged mothers to adopt the culture of
exclusive breastfeeding, which is better than the complementary foods.
Modou
Njai was speaking recently at a media briefing held at the NaNA conference
hall, on the occasion of the commemoration of breastfeeding week.
He
said the commemoration aims at raising public awareness and mobilising action
in support of breastfeeding.
“Children
have to be exclusively breastfed throughout the first six months of life. They
ought to be given appropriate solid or semisolid complementary foods in
addition to continued breastfeeding, from age 6 months to at least 24 months,
as recommended by UNICEF and WHO,” he added.
He
revealed that according to Lancet, 823,000 children die annually due to
sub-optimal infant feeding practices; additionally, 20,000 deaths due to breast
cancer could be averted if mothers adopt optimal breastfeeding.
It
is also reported that not breastfeeding is associated with economic losses of
about $302 billion annually or 0.49 per cent of world gross national income.
However,
for the past two decades global breastfeeding rates have continued to be
stagnant with an exclusive breastfeeding rate of below 40 per cent.
In
realty, Gambian women are faced with many obstacles to breastfeeding, among
them long working hours, psychosocial pressure, inadequate lactation support
from male partners at home, inadequate access to skilled breastfeeding
counseling, and aggressive marketing of breast milk substitutes.
Furthermore,
only 53 per cent of countries meet the ILO 14-week minimum standard for
maternity leave.
It
has been revealed that children who are breastfed have a 2.6 point higher
intelligence quotient than non-breastfed children.
Breast
milk is a natural, renewable food that is environmentally safe and produced and
covered to the consumer without pollution, packaging, or waste.
In
The Gambia, 47 per cent of children under the age 6 months are exclusively
breastfed, 54 per cent of children age 6-8 months are breastfeeding and
consuming complementary foods.
Only
8 per cent of children, age 6-23 months, are fed in accordance with the three
core-infant and young child feeding practices.
Breastfeeding
in The Gambia, through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, is now ranked
at the top of public health challenges and priorities, and constitutes one of
the main priorities of the ministry.
In
addition, the DHS 2013 has revealed that 52 per cent of children are breastfed
within one hour of birth, and 94 per cent within one day after delivery.
The
Gambia government has strengthened the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI)
and expanded the Baby-Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI).
According
to Mr Njai, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has re-established a
nutrition unit to complement the efforts of the National Nutrition Agency
(NaNA), which shows the significance the ministry attaches to breastfeeding.
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