Kenya inaugurates breastfeeding program

By Robert Mutasi 

In an exciting move, Kenya is inaugurating the World Breastfeeding Week 2023 today, an annual global event held between August 1st and 7th.

The initiative seeks to advocate for breastfeeding, fostering healthier infants worldwide.

 A formal announcement from the Ministry of Health reveals that the national ceremony will occur at a hotel in Nairobi, revolving around the theme "Enabling breastfeeding: Making a difference for working parents."

The mission of this campaign is to foster a breastfeeding-friendly environment in workplaces, thereby supporting child health and development. 

The Health Ministry has been rigorously promoting the advantages of breastfeeding, emphasizing its essential role in child development, nourishment, and disease prevention. 

The ministry also highlights breastfeeding's protective effects against infections and infant mortality, as well as its potential benefits for mothers, such as reducing certain cancer risks.

The ministry believes this celebration will play a pivotal role in spreading awareness about the existing policies that support breastfeeding in the workplace.

“It reduces the risk of infections and mortality among infants, while also offering maternal benefits, such as lowering the risk of certain cancers,” says the Ministry.

The World Breastfeeding Week, endorsed by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action, is observed in 170 countries, including Kenya. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF advise initiating breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and exclusively breastfeeding children for the first six months.

Both organizations underline the necessity for enhanced breastfeeding support across all workplaces to maintain and improve global breastfeeding rates. 

WHO praises countries for their considerable strides in increasing exclusive breastfeeding rates over the past decade, with a notable 10 percentage point rise to 48% worldwide.

However, WHO and UNICEF jointly assert that obstacles impeding women and families from achieving their breastfeeding objectives must be addressed to reach the global 70% target by 2030. 

“Supportive workplaces are key. Evidence shows that while breastfeeding rates drop significantly for women when they return to work, that negative impact can be reversed when workplaces facilitate mothers to continue to breastfeed their babies” they advise.

UNICEF and WHO are urging governments, donors, civil society, and private sectors to intensify their efforts.