World Breastfeeding Week 1-7 August 2009

August 2, 2009

Emergencies can happen anywhere in the world. Infants and young children are especially vulnerable to malnutrition, illness, and death in these situations. Whatever the emergency – from earthquake to conflict, from floods to the flu pandemic – the story is the same: breastfeeding is a lifeline and a shield that protects infants in emergencies.

From 1-7 August 2009, the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), and breastfeeding advocates in more than 150 countries worldwide will be celebrating World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) for the 18th year. This year the focus is on:

INFANT AND YOUNG CHILD FEEDING IN EMERGENCIES

An emergency is an extraordinary and extreme situation that immediately puts the health and survival of a population at risk. IFE focuses on the protection and support of safe and appropriate feeding for infants and young children in emergencies. It addresses both emergency preparedness and a timely and appropriate humanitarian response in the event of an emergency, to safeguard the survival, health, growth and development of infants and young children.

In Emergencies, Breastfeeding Is A Lifeline. Why?

Nowhere is ‘immune’ to an emergency. Emergencies can happen anywhere in the world. Whatever the emergency – from earthquake to conflict, from flood to flu pandemic – the story is the same: breastfeeding saves lives. In emergencies, infants and young children are especially vulnerable to malnutrition, illness and death. Here are just a few facts from emergency experiences:

• Published total mortality rates for infants under one year of age in emergencies are much higher than at ordinary times, ranging from 12% to 53%.

• In a large-scale therapeutic feeding programme in Niger in 2005, 95% of the 43,529 malnourished cases admitted for therapeutic care were children less than two years of age.

• In a therapeutic feeding programme in Afghanistan, the mortality rate was 17.2% amongst infants under 6 months of age admitted for therapeutic care.

• During the first three months of conflict in Guinea-Bissau in 1998, the death rate amongst 9–20 month old non-breastfed children was six times higher than amongst the children of the same age-group who were breastfed.

Everyone can play a positive and important role in emergency preparedness and response. Find out how to establish a successful breastfeeding practice before an emergency strikes on: http://www.greenkiddie.co.uk/Breastfeeding.php

Filed under: Baby, Breastfeeding, Emergency, Feeding, Parenting