| NEW YORK, 1 August 2006 – In a
developing country, a child who is breastfed is almost three times more
likely to survive infancy than a child who is not breastfed, UNICEF said
today at the start of World Breastfeeding Week.
“World Breastfeeding Week gives us an
opportunity to advocate for a very simple way to save children’s lives”,
said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman. “Though breastfeeding rates
are increasing in the developing world, an estimated 63 per cent of
children under 6 months of age are still not adequately breastfed. As a
result, millions of children start their lives at a disadvantage.”
World Breastfeeding Week is observed in
over 120 countries by UNICEF and its partners, including the World
Alliance for Breastfeeding Action and the World Health Organization. The
aim is to promote exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life
which yields tremendous health benefits, providing critical nutrients,
protection from deadly diseases such as pneumonia and fostering growth and
development. Continued breast feeding after six months, for up to two
years of age or beyond, combined with safe and appropriate complementary
feeding, is the optimal approach to child feeding.
In an effort to give children the best
possible start to life, UNICEF is working with new mothers around the
world to ensure that their babies are properly fed.
In Gambia, for example, UNICEF has
assisted in the creation of baby-friendly communities where breastfeeding
is protected, encouraged and supported. The programme works with both
women and men to educate them on the benefits of proper maternal and
infant nutrition.
In emergency situations where clean water
is scarce, children are susceptible to life threatening illness such as
diarrhoea. Under such circumstances breastfeeding is a major life-saver.
In Jogyakarta Indonesia, the epicentre of the May earthquake, UNICEF is
leading an initiative to promote continued breastfeeding for children.
One-hundred local women have been trained as breastfeeding counselors,
visiting mothers with infants who are particularly vulnerable to disease.
World Breastfeeding Week 2006 marks 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. Despite the progress
made since the Code was adopted by the World Heath Assembly in 1981,
challenges remain, and monitoring of Code violations is weak in some
countries.
“It is in the developing world, where
under-nutrition contributes to about half of all deaths of children under
five, where we see the worst consequences of non-compliance of the Code,”
Veneman said.
Breastfeeding and good nutrition for
children are critical for achievement of the UN Millennium Development
Goals, particularly the goals relating to child survival, such as reducing
the rate of under-5 child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 and eradicating
extreme poverty and hunger.
UNICEF works with partners, governments
and communities to protect and promote breastfeeding by supporting
national infant-feeding legislation, improving ante- and post-natal care
and boosting resources for new mothers at the community-level. Supporting
breastfeeding during emergencies is also a major UNICEF priority, when
poor feeding practices can contribute to infant mortality.
***
About UNICEF
For 60 years UNICEF has been the world’s leader for children, working on
the ground in 156 countries and territories to help children survive and
thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest
provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child
health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education
for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence,
exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary
contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
For more information, contact:
Kate Donovan, UNICEF Media, tel: 212 326
7452, e-mail: kdonovan@unicef.org
Source:
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_35142.html
|
