By Adebayo Emmanuel Korede, Lokoja
As the activities of this year’s World Breastfeeding Week comes to an end, Kogi State Ministry of Health says it is making effort to take the lead in breastfeeding rate in the country.
The Director Nutrition in the Ministry, Bolarinwa Ogundusi Oladele made this known in an interview with our Reporter on the World Breastfeeding Week in Lokoja.
One of the ways of enhancing healthy living for infants is Breastfeeding as it provides optimal nutrition, antibodies for immunity, and reduces the risk of various illnesses and diseases.
From 1992, the World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated on the first week of August to commemorate the Innocenti Declaration, signed in 1990 by WHO and UNICEF, which aimed to protect and support breastfeeding.
Speaking on the week, the Director of Nutrition in Kogi State Ministry of Health, Bolarinwa Ogundusi Oladele said the Ministry is committed to ensuring that the State takes the lead in Breastfeeding rate in the country.
The breastfeeding rate in Nigeria is not up to 50% and if Kogi has 30%, we are not not bad but there’s nothing wrong if the State makes it to 80% breastfeeding rate.
Bolarinwa pointed out that breast milk of rich and poor mothers are the same, saying the first milk after birth known colostrum is the best vaccine in the world.
The Director, who is also the Project Manager of Accelerating Nutrition in Nigeria (ANRiN Project), said the Ministry is concerned about the well-being of children, hence the regular training of health workers, advocacies and Radio Sensitization.
He added that the mark the week, the Commissioner of Health flagged off the celebration while road shows and visits to health facilities were carried out to see new born babies and know if they were breastfeed within 30 minutes of birth.
Bolarinwa added that to further promote breastfeeding in the State, the Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo has approved six months maternity leave with pay and two weeks paternity leave for fathers that are civil servants.
Some Mothers, Blessing Emmanuel and Rita Itewagbu said breastfeeding especially baby friendly has reduced the cost of buying baby formula.
A father, Emmanuel Godswill noted that he has supported his wife to embrace exclusive breastfeeding in view of its importance to the mother and the baby.
