New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) The World Health Organization has urged countries to invest in health systems and support breastfeeding mothers to strengthen children’s health, development, and survival in the early stages of life.

Breastfeeding is crucial for the babies’ health and well-being. It acts as their first vaccine, protecting against diseases including diarrhoea and pneumonia.

World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year in the first week of August.

“Investing in breastfeeding is an investment in the future, yet only 48 per cent of infants under six months are exclusively breastfed — well below the World Health Assembly target of 60 per cent by 2030. This is due to the overlapping challenges for new mothers, health workers, and health systems,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, in a joint statement.

The experts noted that millions of mothers around the world do not receive timely and skilled support in a healthcare setting when they need it most.

As per WHO data, only a fifth of countries include infant and young child feeding training for the doctors and nurses who care for new mothers.

“This means the majority of the world’s mothers leave hospitals without proper guidance on how to breastfeed their babies and when to introduce complementary feeding,” the statement said.

Further, in many countries, health systems are too often under-resourced, fragmented, or poorly equipped to deliver quality, consistent, evidence-based breastfeeding support.

“Investment in breastfeeding support remains critically low even though every dollar invested generates $35 in economic returns,” the statement said.

Under the theme this year is “prioritise breastfeeding: create sustainable support systems”, WHO and UNICEF called on governments and health administrators to invest in high-quality breastfeeding support by ensuring adequate investment in equitable, quality maternal and newborn care, including breastfeeding support services.

They also urged for increasing national budget allocations for breastfeeding programmes; integrating breastfeeding counselling and support into routine maternal and child health services; ensuring all health service providers are equipped with the skills and knowledge required to support breastfeeding, including in emergency and humanitarian settings.

Further, the global health body stressed the need to strengthen community health systems to help provide every new mother with ongoing, accessible breastfeeding support for up to two years and beyond.

“Strengthening health systems to support breastfeeding is not just a health imperative, it is a moral and economic imperative,” the statement said.

–IANS

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