UNICEF Ghana joins the worldwide neighborhood in commemorating World Breastfeeding Week, noticed yearly within the first week of August. This week serves as an important platform to advertise breastfeeding as a cornerstone of kid survival, progress, and lifelong well being. It additionally requires the creation of sustainable assist methods, particularly in workplaces and communities—that empower moms to breastfeed safely and efficiently.
This 12 months’s theme, “Prioritise Breastfeeding: Create Sustainable Assist Programs,” highlights the pressing want for long-term, inclusive buildings that assist breastfeeding throughout all settings. These methods embody authorized frameworks, healthcare practices, office insurance policies, and neighborhood engagement that collectively guarantee moms should not left to navigate breastfeeding challenges alone.
UNICEF and WHO advocate that infants are breastfed inside one hour of beginning and completely breastfed of their first six months of life (with no different meals and liquids offered). At 6 months, infants ought to start consuming protected, enough, and various complementary meals whereas persevering with breastfeeding as much as two years or past. In Ghana, whereas progress has been made, challenges persist. Over the previous twenty years, the speed of unique breastfeeding for infants underneath six months has remained comparatively stagnant at 52.6%. Early initiation of breastfeeding is delayed for 41.8% of newborns, with important regional disparities. In Larger Accra, Ahafo, and Jap areas, greater than half of infants don’t start breastfeeding throughout the first hour of life. Nationally, the median period of unique breastfeeding is 2.9 months, far beneath the advisable six months, with regional variations starting from simply 1 month in Western North to 4.9 months within the Savannah Area.
A key milestone in Ghana’s breastfeeding journey is the enactment of Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 1667, which regulates the advertising of breastmilk substitutes. The legislation prohibits the promotion, promoting, and distribution of formulation—breast milk dietary supplements, bottles, teats, and pacifiers in well being services, and bans free samples to healthcare employees. It mandates unique breastfeeding for the primary six months and continued breastfeeding alongside complementary meals as much as two years or past. To strengthen enforcement, the Meals and Drug Authority (FDA) has launched a QR Code system that permits residents to report violations, reinforcing accountability and neighborhood participation.
UNICEF Ghana helps the Authorities of Ghana to make sure moms get the assistance they want, after they want it, wherever they’re – whether or not at work, dwelling or of their neighborhood. This contains constructing capability to make sure expert counselling from educated, empathetic well being employees all through their breastfeeding journey, advocating for office insurance policies that shield their proper to breastfeed, and neighborhood networks that present ongoing assist. When these components work collectively throughout all ranges of healthcare, they create a security internet that ensures no mom has to navigate breastfeeding challenges alone.
The advantages of breastfeeding prolong past little one well being. Moms who breastfeed have a diminished danger of breast and ovarian cancers. Economically, investing in breastfeeding yields a excessive return—USD 35 for each USD 1 invested.
Breastfeeding is the muse of a wholesome, thriving little one. It protects lives, boosts growth, and delivers financial good points. To make sure each little one will get the most effective begin in life, sustainable assist methods should be prioritized. This requires collective motion from authorities, communities, workplaces, and households to implement protecting legal guidelines, spend money on supportive initiatives, and normalize breastfeeding as a shared societal accountability.
UNICEF is asking on all related actors to:
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Guarantee enough funding to assist breastfeeding programmes
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Shield breastfeeding from business affect and totally implement the Code of Advertising of Breast-milk Substitutes in well being services
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Strengthen breastfeeding assist in well being services
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Strengthen neighborhood buildings to assist breastfeeding
