2022 World Breastfeeding Week;
Anambra Makes Tremendous Improvements In Children’s Nutrition
Executive Secretary of Anambra State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ASPHCDA), Dr. Chioma Ezenyimulu, has observed that Anambra State has made tremendous improvements in the Nutrition of children since 2018,
Dr Ezenyimulu made the observation on Wednesday, while briefing journalists on behalf of the Commissioner for Health to mark the 2022 World Breastfeeding Week, to be flagged off on Thursday, August 4, by Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo.
Ezenyimulu noted that the state has moved from 14 per cent of children under five with stunted growth to 9 per cent.
She emphasized that this is why breastfeeding is very important because apart from protecting nursing mothers from diseases such as ovarian cancer as well as heart diseases, it prevents diarrhoea and pneumonia in infants thereby reducing infant and maternal mortality.
According to her, World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended that every newborn baby has the right to good nutrition, and the most important thing a mother can do is to breastfeed.
Ezenyinmulu noted that 60 per cent of the world’s total infants are missing in the recommended first six months of exclusive breastfeeding.
She pointed out that World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated yearly from August 1 to 7, to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of children across the globe.
This year’s celebration will focus on and empower the actors in order to strengthen their capacity to provide and sustain breastfeeding friendly environment for families in the post-pandemic world so that breastfeeding can be stepped up.
The overall goal is to reduce infant/maternal morbidity and mortality.
The agency is also organising education for nursing mothers, providing commodities free of charge to aid brain development among other things.
The celebration will be geared towards informing people about their role in strengthening the warm chain of support for breastfeeding; anchoring breastfeeding as part of good nutrition, and food security reduction of inequalities, and engaging individuals and organisations along the warm chain of support for breastfeeding as well as galvanise action on strengthening capacity actors and systems for transformational change.
0
0
