Sogakope (V/R), Aug. 5, GNA - This year's celebration of the World Breastfeeding Week was on Monday launched at the Sogakope with a call on the public to build alliances with civil society movements to sustain and promote breastfeeding.

The week, celebrated in the first week of August, was launched on the theme: "Breastfeeding in a Globalised World for Peace and Justice." It is used to draw attention to the importance of breastfeeding.

This year's celebration is recognising the threats and opportunities of globalisation on breastfeeding practices and to maximise the potential of global communications to educate people on the benefits of appropriate breastfeeding.

It is also to promote and act on the global strategy for feeding babies and to prevent the weakening of the international code of marketing of breast milk substitutes.

The celebration would stress the need to think globally and act locally with all communities to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.

Mr Daniel Eworyi, District Chief Executive of South Tongu, launched the celebration and read the speech of the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Kwasi Owusu Yeboa on his behalf.

Mr Owusu Yeboa said one sure way of giving children the opportunity to develop optimally was through breastfeeding adding that it provided the best nutrition for a start in life.

He called for direct efforts to encourage breastfeeding saying, it was better to breastfeed to save cost of financing ill health resulting from malnutrition.

Mr Owusu Yeboa praised the Ghana Health Service, the Ghana Infant Nutrition Action Network (GINAN), a non-governmental organisation and others on their role in promoting breastfeeding in the country over the past decade.

He said the enactment of the Breastfeeding Promotion Regulations was to ensure that "we keep a hold on the inappropriate marketing and distribution of breast milk substitutes thereby allowing mothers the freedom to decide the best way to feed their infants".

Mr Owusu Yeboa said efforts were being made more recently to come up with a comprehensive strategy for addressing the problems of feeding infants in line with the World Health Organisation Global Strategy to address issues such as the feeding of infants of HIV positive mothers and that of children living in refugee camps and particular difficult circumstances.

He noted that the practice of exclusive breastfeeding rate for six months in Ghana was still less than 20 per cent.

This means only one baby out of five is appropriately fed during the crucial first six months after birth.

The country was also ranked among the countries with high rates of bottle feeding, Mr Owusu Yeboa said, and called for intensified efforts at behavioural change through communication.

Ms Magaret Dzakpasu, Acting District Director of Health Services, expressed the hope that the launching of the celebration at the Sogakope Government Hospital would generate interest in breastfeeding promotion and encourage the hospital to speed up its efforts to become a "Baby Friendly" hospital.

Dr John Eleeza, Volta Regional Co-ordinator on Breastfeeding, said the Ho District Hospital, which was the first to be declared Baby Friendly in the country, had lost that status.

He said the Regional Hospital was the only Baby Friendly health facility in the Region and he called on other health institutions to work hard to qualify for the description.