No country in the world fully meets recommended standards for breastfeeding, according to a new report by NaijaAgroNet.
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the World
Health Organization (WHO) have disclosed that breast feeding in the recent past
suffered lack of investment.
They also said that collaboration with the Global
Breastfeeding Collective, a new initiative to increase global breastfeeding
rates.
Just as they lauded the Global Breastfeeding Scorecard,
which evaluated 194 nations, saying that it found that only 40 per cent of
children younger than six months are breastfed exclusively (given nothing but
breast milk) and only 23 countries have exclusive breastfeeding rates above 60
per cent.
Evidence shows that breastfeeding has cognitive and health
benefits for both infants and their mothers. It is especially critical during
the first six months of life, helping prevent diarrhoea and pneumonia, two
major causes of death in infants. Mothers who breastfeed have a reduced risk of
ovarian and breast cancer, two leading causes of death among women.
“Breastfeeding gives babies the best possible start in
life,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO.
“Breastmilk works like a baby’s first vaccine, protecting infants from
potentially deadly diseases and giving them all the nourishment they need to
survive and thrive.”
The scorecard was released at the start of World
Breastfeeding Week alongside a new analysis demonstrating that an annual
investment of only US$4.70 per newborn is required to increase the global rate
of exclusive breastfeeding among children under six months to 50 per cent by
2025.
They posited that Investment Case for Breastfeeding, could
save the lives of 520,000 children under the age of five and potentially
generate US$300 billion in economic gains over 10 years, as a result of reduced
illness and health care costs and increased productivity.
“Breastfeeding is one of the most effective – and cost
effective – investments nations can make in the health of their youngest
members and the future health of their economies and societies,” said UNICEF
Executive Director Anthony Lake. “By failing to invest in breastfeeding, we are
failing mothers and their babies – and paying a double price: in lost lives and
in lost opportunity.”
The investment case shows that in five of the world’s
largest emerging economies—China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Nigeria—the lack
of investment in breastfeeding results in an estimated 236,000 child deaths per
year and US$119 billion in economic losses.
Globally, investment in breastfeeding is far too low. Each
year, governments in lower- and middle-income countries spend approximately
US$250 million on breastfeeding programs; and donors provide only an additional
US$85 million.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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