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By Madu Obi
The Anambra State government says it would establish crèche in all government offices as a way of encouraging exclusive breastfeeding in the state.
Anambra State is said to have achieved only about 20 percent of exclusive breastfeeding, a situation attributed to the fact that most nursing mothers in the state belong to the working class cadre.
Executive Secretary of the Anambra State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Mrs Chisom Uchem said at a one day workshop for heads of Primary Healthcare Centers in the 21 local government areas of the state in Awka that the proposed facility would also help mothers and their babies during the mandatory six months exclusive breastfeeding.
The workshop was organized by the agency in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF.
The Executive Secretary said: "The idea is to make breastfeeding work in work places. There are enablers to make it work. For instance, there is need for government to have crèche in all the government facilities.
"What this means is that anywhere a breastfeeding mother is working, there should be a conducive environment for her to keep the baby and breastfeed such baby on demand."
We don’t want to have mothers complaining that the reason they are not breastfeeding their babies is because they have to work or that they want to absent themselves from work to be able to breastfeed their babies.
"When we talk about exclusive breastfeeding, we are also talking about zero water because God has packaged the breast food for nine months for the baby in the mother's womb and this food has enough water for the child for the first six months of birth."
"We are already making the state government to buy into it. When the wife of the governor flagged off the breastfeeding week, she mandated that the message should be sent to all the 21 local government areas."
"I also personally visited the 21 LGAs and asked the councilors to take the message to all the political wards."
"The crèche may not take off at the same time throughout the state, but I can give assurance that over time, every government office will buy into it. We believe that every government parastatal will key into it because the wife of the governor wants to ensure that the project is realized."
"Some ministries in the state already have the crèche we are talking about. What is needed is a bed where the baby should be kept and for the mother to go and breastfeed regularly. There are also sick bays where the mothers can rest if the need arises".
She said the state government is also planning to enact a law on exclusive breastfeeding so that mothers who default could be penalized.
The Director of Disease Control and Immunisation (DDCI), Anambra State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Placid Uliagbafusi, called for compliance to the Marketing Breast Milk Substitutes (BMS) Code in the country.
In a lecture, Uliagbafusi said there is need for a law to regulate the sale of baby formula in the country as the uncontrolled sale has been found to be a drawback to exclusive breastfeeding.
According to him, if such laws were made and enforced, the level of exclusive breastfeeding will surely rise in the country.
He said: “One of the challenges of exclusive breastfeeding is the continued violation of the international code of marketing of breast milk substitutes.
"The knowledge and lack of awareness of stakeholdershave contributed to the gravity of violations in Nigeria. Breast milk is the best food for the child as it prevents diarrhoea, chest pain and other diseases."
"No person shall publish or be a party to the publication of any advertisement for
breast milk substitute or infant formula which makes any claim or suggestion that bottle-feeding is equivalent to breastfeeding."
"It shall be the duty of every government, nongovernmental organizations or private institutions engaged directly or indirectly in health care delivery, to take such measures as may encourage, promote and protect breast-feeding."
"No facility of a health care delivery system shall be used for the purpose of promoting, displaying placards, posters or materials concerning breast milk substitute or infant formula or other products of like nature."
"Every breast milk substitute or infant formula intended for sale shall be subjected to a satisfactory laboratory and clinical analysis by the manufacturer or distributor."
He urged relevant authorities to aggressively address the unpleasant situation through interventions, including effective sensitisation of all stakeholders.
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