By: Mohamed Sahr
In an effort of reducing maternal mortality, ending child death and improving well-being through exclusive breastfeeding, Directorate of Food and Nutrition at the Ministry of Health updated the media on the country’s progress on Goal Three of the Sustainable Development (SDG3) during the World Breastfeeding Week on Friday 4th August, 2023 at Youyi Building in Freetown.
Dr. Jalikatu Mustapha, Deputy Minister of Health said breastfeeding is the most important intervention mothers should use being that it cost effective and cheaper for the healthy life of every child. She continued that collaborative support of mothers in the formal and informal setting is needed to actualizing the success of breastfeeding.
“In order for us to achieve more in the SDG, we have to embark on targeted advocacy from working mothers, parents, community leaders, health workers and everybody who can play a vital role in this drive as a result of supporting and promoting breastfeeding,” Deputy Minister said.
She affirmed that with the Breastfeeding Act of 2021 and the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act of 2022, the goal would be achieved through the support and implementation of the two legislations.
Aminata Shamit Koroma, Chief Nutritionist at the Ministry of Health said anchoring optimal paid leave at work place serves as the tool that would enable breastfeeding especially for working mothers. She added that engaging the media in propagating the significant of exclusive breastfeeding could be the right formula in this year’s World Breastfeeding Week with the theme “Enabling Breastfeeding: Making a different for working parent.”
Madam Koroma mentioned that galvanizing for actions and enhancing collaboration from different parties bring out improvements on child health as well eliminate child death. She assured that the Ministry of Health would continue to work relentlessly in order to make breastfeeding a national success. “Sierra Leone is one of the countries in the world that has met the SDG 3 with a scorecard of 54.1 percent for exclusive breastfeeding,” Madam Koroma said.
She disclosed that exclusively breastfeeding a baby is fourteen times less likely to die as per World Health Organization (WHO) recent research. MoH Chief Nutritionist urged employers, parent’s family, health sectors among others to intensify the call for action through breastfeeding and make it a progressive work at all sectors including market woman and even women with disability.
Dr. Vandana Joshi, Chief of Health and Nutrition at UNICEF said breastfeeding is more than just a source of nutrition for infants; emphasizing that it is a fundamental right and a cornerstone of early childhood development. She furthered that the benefits of breastfeeding range from providing essential nutrients and antibodies to protecting against infectious diseases, as well as to fostering a deep emotional bond between mother and child.
She encouraged the government, employers, and communities to unify in creating a nurturing environment that does not compromise the health and well-being of children. “Balancing this vital role with professional and household commitments often becomes an insurmountable challenge,” Dr. Joshi said.
She revealed that this year’s World Breastfeeding Week provides a unique opportunity to advance four crucial areas namely supportive workplace policies, education and awareness, community involvement and access to quality healthcare services that intersect with the lives of working parents, mothers and their children.
Dr. Mohamed Foe, Representative of Focus 1000 said even though working mothers find it difficult to combine work and breastfeeding their babies, they have to be protected, promoted and supported in order to improve progress on breastfeeding rates. He mentioned that investment in breastfeeding does not only improve children’s health, but also develops human capital growth that which can benefit a country.
