Dr Hajia Ramat Tijani, the Minister of State for FCT says she has approved the establishment of lactation group in the FCT to safeguard newly delivered babies.
The minister assured mothers that with the lactation group, there would be safer breastfeeding to secure the future of children in the territory.
Tijani, who gave the assurance on Thursday in Abuja, during the inauguration of 2021 World Breastfeeding Week in the FCT, urged mothers to practice six weeks exclusive breastfeeding to their newborn for a safer future.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the 2021 celebration is “Protect Breastfeeding: A shared responsibility”.
The minister said several activities had been put in place to mark this year’s breastfeeding week.
According to her, the benefits of breastfeeding can not be overemphasised
She said that it was important to inculcate the habit of exclusive breastfeeding because it was cheap and important to babies.
“We will stop at nothing until we attain our goal of securing the future and nutrition value of our children as well as improve the health of the lactative mother.
“The FCT Administration has supported and will continue to promote the practice of breastfeeding, especially to the renewly delivered babies in first six months.
“With this, several activities have been put in place to mark this year’s breastfeeding week in the FCT and I have approved the establishment of lactation group for mothers in the FCT, ” she said.
Dr Iwot Ndaeyo, the Acting Executive Secretary, FCT Primary Healthcare Board, said that breastfeeding was not only the responsibility of the mother but it involved partners, family members and health professionals at all levels.
Ndaeyo said that breastfeeding was an important public health issue because “it promotes health, prevent diseases, help contribute to reducing health inequalities and saves health services cost for countries.”
He said breastfeeding played an important role in the prevention of all forms of childhood malnutrition including under-nutrition and some nutrient deficiencies.
A breastfeeding mother, Mrs Hajara Saleh, thanked the minister for her word of advice and called for the improvement of Primary Healthcare Centres, especially at the rural areas. (NAN)
