Accra, Aug. 7, GNA - Deputy Minister of Health, Mrs Gladys Ashitey, on Thursday said women who planned to have children should find alternative ways of breastfeeding exclusively for six months until the three months maternity leave was revised. She therefore urged nursing mothers who were entitled to the three months to speak to their healthcare providers to help them store breast milk hygienically for use when they were not around. The Ministry, the deputy Minister said, had responded to breastfeeding issues with a passion by ensuring that the policy on infant feeding and a strategic plan on Infant and Young Child feeding were implemented to the letter.

Speaking at the launch of this year's World Breastfeeding Week on the theme "Mother Support: Going for the Gold Everyone wins!" she noted that the breastfeeding was the oldest intervention created by God for infant growth and survival. Mothers are therefore encouraged to strive for the Gold Standard in breastfeeding, which is a reward for breastfeeding their babies exclusively for the first six months. The week provides the opportunity to advocate for a simple way to save children's lives and breastfeeding is a key tool in improving child survival.

She said exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months could avert up to 13 per cent of under-five deaths in developing countries adding that various studies in both developing and developed countries had shown a clear relationship between breastfeeding which is God's own way of nurturing the newborn and the immune status of an infant. This, she said, was manifested by lower incidence of infections and other diseases among breastfeeding than among artificially fed infants even through adolescence and adulthood.

Mrs. Veronica Gomez, Breastfeeding Programme Manager, said aggressive, promotion and support for breastfeeding over the past 18 years had yielded results globally, adding that, in sub-Saharan Africa the exclusive breastfeeding rate had increased from 22 to 30 per cent, a rate of progress far above many part of the world. In Ghana, the prevalence of breastfeeding, she said, was 97 per cent while that of exclusive breastfeeding rate had increased from two per cent in 1998 to 54 per cent in 2003 and that of infant aged 6-9 months eating solid foods has also increased from 36 per cent in 1993 to 62 per cent in 2003.

She, however, noted that about 40 per cent of children were still not being exclusively breastfed for six months and called on stakeholders to put all hands on deck to bridge the gap. Mrs. Josephine Cofie, Chairperson, GINAN, said as part of activities to mark the celebration, awareness on breastfeeding had been created in schools, markets and churches to help bridge the gap between exclusive breastfeeding and breastfeeding interlaced with instant formula. 7 Aug. 08