| World Breastfeeding Week Around the World: Lesotho World Breastfeeding Week in other countries | |
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Lesotho: Program Coordinator Blandinah Motaung and Africa Regional Technical Program Officer Esther Sakala met with the Family Health Division of the Ministry of Health and Social Work (MOHSW) to encourage the formation of a steering committee to plan World Breastfeeding Week activities. The committee included the Health Education Division and Food and Nutrition Coordinating Office of the MOHSW; the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, and Industry; the Lesotho Breastfeeding Partnership Network; and the Lesotho Breastfeeding Task Force. The committee held planning meetings and a 3-day workshop funded by LINKAGES to develop IEC materials in Sesotho for use during the week’s celebrations and an upcoming national “No Mixed Feeding” campaign. The World Breastfeeding Week materials included a banner (“Give your child breastmilk only for six months; do not give even water; the baby will grow healthy”), a poster on exclusive breastfeeding, and a brochure on no mixed feeding, which were disseminated at 5 public meetings attended by 87 people. Three radio stations broadcast programs on breastfeeding during World Breastfeeding Week, and the MOHSW issued a press release on August 4 on the benefits of breastfeeding and the International Code. |
| World Breastfeeding Week 2006 (August 1-7) marked the 25th anniversary of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. To date, more than 60 governments have enacted all or many of the provisions of the Code as law. The Code aims to protect and promote breastfeeding by prohibiting the advertising and aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes, feeding bottles, and teats. LINKAGES was involved in World Breastfeeding Week in several countries. | |
