Press briefing at EOC
The Borno State Government has reiterated its commitment to encouraging breastfeeding by nursing mothers across the state for maximum impact.
The State Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and Human Services, Dr Muhammed A. Ghuluze, made this known in Maiduguri while breaking newsmen on 2023 World Breastfeeding Week in the state.
Ghuluze noted that breastfeeding remained the cornerstone of child survival with the potential to save over 800,000 lives annually when practiced exclusively for the first six months of a child’s life and complemented by age-appropriate feeding for up to two years or more.
“The Impact of such feeding practices extends beyond infancy as it ensures healthy children who can reach their full potential for growth and development.
“As we gather here to commemorate the 2023 World Breastfeeding Week, we join hands with all stakeholders and actors at national and sub-national levels to underscore the significance of breastfeeding and its role in fostering optimal growth and development for our children and our State.
“Together with over 120 countries around the globe, we call for Increased support and commitment from all sectors of society to create environments that enable and empower breastfeeding parents, particularly in the context of the workplace. ogress in safeguarding,” Ghuluze said.
He said the sustained campaign in the state was to inform the public on the importance of protecting breastfeeding and to galvanize action on protecting breastfeeding to improve one of the primary barriers to breastfeeding or early cessation of breastfeeding that is prevalent in work place.
The Permanent Secretary observed that women require suficient time and support to breastfeed successfully.
“Working women everywhere straggle to balance child- care and their work responsibilities. Some governments and workplaces make this integration easier.
“Bomo state, with an exclusive breastfeeding rate of 40% aims to step up this rate (toward the World Health Assembly targer of 50%) with this year’s theme by supporting working mothers to continue EBF up to 6 months.
“Evidence reveals that women with less than three months of maternity leave tend to have shorter breastfeeding durations than those with three or more months of leave. Borno state already has in place four months maternity leave for working women,” Ghuluze said.
He noted that Borno would continue to take urgent steps to protect, promote and support optimal infant and young child feeding, including legislative protection, social promotion and health worker and health system support via Baby Friendly Initiatives (BFD) and additional approaches.
“With this only, we can hope to achieve and sustain the behaviors and practices necessary to enable every mother and family to give every child the best start in life.
“1want to reiterate Borno state’s commitment to engage with all the individuals and organizations along the warm chain of suppor for breastfeeding for the needed transformational change to achieve and sustain optimal practices in Borno state. Every Mother is a Working Mother,” Ghuluze stressed
The State Executive Secretary of the Primary Health Care Development Agency, Prof. Mohammed Arab, also spoke on the importance of breastfeeding in the life of a child.
The breast feeding week in Borno was flagged-off by the state First Lady, Falmata Babagana Zulum.
