LAHORE: Global Breastfeeding Week will start on Monday with a theme to enable breastfeeding by making a difference for working parents.
The Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (PPSHD) has arranged programs to celebrate the week by organizing different events, including discussions at various hospitals, a launch and advocacy seminar at a local hotel on 28 August to discuss the current status of breastfeeding legislation in Punjab and policies for enabling environment for working mothers.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in its report on Pakistan, has expressed its gratitude about the increasing number of newborns that are having the benefits of breastfeeding; however, it is not yet time for celebration as less than one in two babies are adequately breastfed in Pakistan.
The report said that the UNICEF would continue working with partners and Pakistan’s government to further accelerate progress to ensure that every kid has the best start in life, a very first step for realizing the children’s rights to full growth and development.
Breastfeeding Survey
According to the latest National Nutrition Survey, the proportion of babies put to breast within one hour after delivery increased from 40% in 2011 to 45.8% in 2018. Likewise, practice of exclusive breastfeeding has increased from 37.7% in 2011 to 48.4% in 2018.
These national averages hide inter-districts and provincial variations. Early initiation of breastfeeding is as high as 61.1% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while only 20.1% of newborns in Gilgit Baltistan are given breast milk during the first hour after birth.
The practice of exclusive breastfeeding is above 50% in Sindh, KP and GB provinces and ranges between 42 and 44% in Punjab, Balochistan and AJK, it added.
