Over 70% Of Children In Nigeria Denied Breast Milk–UNICEF, WHO

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have said over 70 per cent of children in Nigeria are denied breast milk.

UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell and WHO director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus in a joint statement to celebrate the 2022 World Breastfeeding Week said as global crises continue to threaten the health and nutrition of millions of babies and children, the vital importance of breastfeeding as the best possible start in life is more critical than ever.

“This World Breastfeeding Week, under its theme; “Step Up for Breastfeeding: Educate and Support,” UNICEF and WHO are calling on governments to allocate increased resources to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding policies and programmes, especially for the most vulnerable families living in emergency settings,” the statement noted.

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Meanwhile, a Nigerian milk booster and lactation company – The Milk Booster, has launched what is now arguably the first breast milk bank in the country, Premium Times reports.

Launched as part of the activities towards marking this year’s annual Breastfeeding Week, the company’s founder and managing director, Chinny Obinwanne, said the idea stemmed from her personal experience and training not only as a medical doctor but also as a member of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.

Speaking at the launch at the weekend, the milk bank founder said the country loses billions of naira annually addressing some challenges in the paediatric health sector, which she noted are quite avoidable if adequate breastfeeding is done by mothers.
She said the new bank would prioritise “babies that are very low in weight, sick and healthy preterm babies, sick full term babies, and other babies whose mothers don’t want to breastfeed.”

Mrs Obinwanne said neonatal mortality statistics in Nigeria was still alarming and that the company’s efforts are targeted at contributing to reducing the menace.

Regarded as the number of neonates dying before reaching 28 days of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year, neonatal mortality rate in Nigeria is said to currently stand at 35 deaths per 1,000 live births as of 2022.

According to Knoema, a data resource website, the neonatal mortality statistics in Nigeria was 65 deaths per 1,000 live births as of 1971, before reducing to 35 deaths in 2020.

Mrs Obinwanne said Nigeria has the highest neonatal mortality rate in Africa and the third highest premature rate in the world.

She said it was cheaper for Nigeria to invest in breastfeeding than to invest in treating the sicknesses that will arise from not breastfeeding babies accurately.

She said the new initiative is not new globally but agreed that it is a culture alien to Africa and Nigeria in particular. She, however, agreed that the situation is improving.