Ghana has seen marginal improvements in breastfeeding indicators, with initiation within the first hour growing from 52 to 58 per cent and exclusive breastfeeding rising from 52 to 53.1 per cent.

According to data from the recent Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, Ghana is still a long way from meeting the national target of more than 70 per cent breastfeeding initiation and exclusivity.

Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), said this at the launch of World Breastfeeding Month in Accra.

The Month is being marked on the theme “Closing the Gaps: Breastfeeding Support for All.”

Dr Kuma-Aboagye explained that the theme emphasizes breastfeeding as an equalizer for all social and economic backgrounds and that all pregnant women must be supported so that no one falls behind.

He said that the GHS wanted to see more breastfeeding spaces, including breastfeeding booths, in various locations to create an enabling environment for breastfeeding women, and encouraged religious organizations to set up nursing areas at their places of worship.

Dr. Kuma-Aboagye urged banks and other public service institutions to create space for breastfeeding clients to nurse their babies safely.

He said that vehicle owners and drivers must ensure that their vehicles are safe for mothers to breastfeed on board.

“It is our collective efforts that would make breastfeeding a norm in a fast-changing world where many of our women are shying away from these beautiful God-given responsibilities,” he said.

Dr Kuma-Aboagye dismissed the myth that breastfeeding causes the breasts to sag, saying, “Let me remind them that age or time always brings every organ downwards.”

He described breastmilk as a superfood that meets all an infant’s nutritional and energetic needs for the first six months of life.

Breastmilk provides more than just nutritional benefits; it contains over 200 recognized ingredients and is well-suited to sustain the slow steady growth of humans with rapid brain development and changes, providing nutrients appropriate for a baby’s needs whether born preterm, at term, or as an infant grows.

Dr Kuma-Aboagye said breastmilk was a living fluid that actively protects against infection while also lowering the incidence of allergies and juvenile-onset diabetes in families with a history of such conditions.

He said that breastmilk programmes the body’s system to help regulate blood pressure and reduce the risk of obesity later in life.

Breastfeeding lowers the risk of some of the most severe kinds of ovarian and breast cancer in mothers, lowers the financial burden of caring for unwell children and contributes to improved productivity in families and nations.

Dr Kuma-Aboagye said that while breastfeeding is mainly performed by women, it should be of importance to everyone.

“We must all come together and support our women to continue to give this lifesaving, productivity-increasing food to our babies.

“The benefits of breastfeeding should encourage them to give their children the bright and healthy future they envisage for them, healthy and productive citizens of their nation.”

He said that the Ghana Health Service and other health agencies will work diligently to improve staff and facility capacity to the best treatment possible for clients.