WUNRN
World Breastfeeding
Week 2009
Breastfeeding: A Vital
Emergency Response
OBJECTIVES OF WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK 2009
- To draw attention to the vital role that breastfeeding
plays in emergencies worldwide.
- To stress the need for active protection and support of
breastfeeding before and during emergencies.
- To inform mothers, breastfeeding advocates, communities,
health professionals, governments, aid agencies, donors, and the media on
how they can actively support breastfeeding before and during an
emergency.
- To mobilise action and nurture networking and collaboration
between those with breastfeeding skills and those involved in emergency
response.
RATIONALE
- Children are the most vulnerable in emergencies – child
mortality can soar from 2 to 70 times higher than average due to
diarrhoea, respiratory illness and malnutrition.
- Breastfeeding is a life saving intervention and protection
is greatest for the youngest infants. Even in non-emergency settings,
non-breastfed babies under 2 months of age are six times more likely to
die.
- Emergencies can happen anywhere in the world. Emergencies
destroy what is ‘normal,’ leaving caregivers struggling to cope and
infants vulnerable to disease and death.
- During emergencies, mothers need active support to continue
or re-establish breastfeeding.
- Emergency preparedness is vital. Supporting breastfeeding
in non-emergency settings will strengthen mothers’ capacity to cope in an
emergency.
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