THE United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that improving the rate at which children are breastfed exclusively for the first six months can save the lives of 520,000 children in the next 10 years.
The Chief Nutrition Officer of UNICEF, Enugu Field Office, Mrs. Ngozi Onuora, stated this in a goodwill message at a Community Dialogue on Zero Water, Exclusive Breastfeeding and Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) advocacy and sensitisation programme organised by the wife of Cross River State governor, Bishop Eyoanwan Otu through her NGO, Humanity Without Borders Empowerment Initiative in collaboration with the state Primary Health Care Development Agency and UNICEF held in Akpabuyo Local Government Council, weekend.
She said that breastfeeding was not only the cornerstone of a child’s healthy development but a key to achieving sustainable development goals by 2030.
The UNICEF officer identified the introduction of water in the first six months of life as a major harmful barrier to achieving optimal exclusive breastfeeding in Nigeria and in Cross River State specifically.
She said zero water intake in the first six months can rapidly improve the exclusive breastfeeding rate to over 50 percent from the current 24 percent nationally and 28 percent at the state level, ahead of the 50 percent World Health Organization global target by the year 2025.
To achieve this, she said government authorities, healthcare providers, youth leaders, and caregivers must work together to ensure its success.
In a keynote address, the wife of Cross River State governor, Eyoanwan Otu, said the State Government is committed to raising the healthiest population of people in Nigeria by the year 2027.
To achieve this, Bishop Otu said the state government is providing the needed political and leadership will to support nutrition programmes, deliver essential health services, manpower development across sectors, and improve welfare and salaries including plans and actions to boost food security that will impact positively on the lives of individuals in the state.
Otu, represented by the state Commissioner for Commerce, Dr. Abigail Orok, said that good coordination of nutrition programmes by the state planning commission will enhance funding and a matching fund for nutrition programmes.
Beyond this, she said there is a strong synergy with support partners and donor agencies for the proper implementation of maternal and young child nutrition programmes in the state.
In a welcome address, the chairman of Akpabuyo Local Government Council, Effiom Bassey Effiong, thanked the wife of the governor for the good work she has been doing for women and children through her NGO and promised that the council will work to complement her effort.
