Breastfeeding vital in reducing children mortality rate

03/08/2015

KABUL (SW): Afghanistan joined the rest of the world on Tuesday as it marked the World Breastfeeding Week highlighting the importance of it for the newborn’s health.

Speaking at a gathering in connection with the day, the Minister of Public Health FirozuddinFiroz said Afghanistan has witnessed significant improvements regarding general health and child nutrition.

 “Authentic researches indicate that mothers who breastfeed their infants for 2 years reduce child mortality rate by 35% “, he noted. The minister added that by using the available facilities in the ministry, the government would try to further raise awareness on breastfeeding and child nutrition.

Akil Aier, representative for United Nations’ Fund for Children (UNICEF) in Afghanistan said on the occasion breastfeeding in the first 100-day reduces children mortality rate by 25% among infants.

“Breastfeeding makes the children precocious and makes their bodies resistant to diseases. Children who were not breastfed properly suffer from weight loss and malnutrition”, he said.

According to the officials in Ministry of Public Health, more than 100000 children under the age of 5 die each year in Afghanistan. Around 50% of these children were not properly breastfed.

Breastfeeding is one of the most cost-effective ways to boost children’s health. World Breastfeeding Week 2015 aims to empower women to combine work with breastfeeding and raising their children

ENDS

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