Janet Ogundepo To reaffirm its commitment to improving maternal and newborn health outcomes within communities in Lagos State and beyond, an advisory services firm, ACIOE Group, during the World Breastfeeding Week, sensitises no fewer than 200 mothers to best breastfeeding practices. The Group, which comprises the ACIOE Associates and ACIOE Foundation, in collaboration with the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board, trained the mothers across three PHCs in the state. In a statement sent to PUNCH Healthwise, the group noted that breastfeeding was a timeless practice that provided unmatched benefits for mothers and babies.
The World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated from August 1st to 7th every year. The theme of this year is “Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All.” In honour of the WBW, the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children’s Fund, on August 1, called for an improvement in global breastfeeding rates.
In a joint statement signed by UNICEF’s Executive Director, Catherine Russell, and WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, stated that in the past 12 years, only 48 per cent of infants worldwide have been exclusively breastfed. The WHO and UNICEF recommend that babies initiate breastfeeding within the first hour of life and be exclusively breastfed within the first months of life. The agencies emphasise that breastfeeding provides all the energy and nutrients that infants need for the first six months of life and is important to ensure opt.