The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has launched a series of events and activities to mark the National Breastfeeding Week, observed from November 1 to 7 every year.
Held under the theme "Let's promote breastfeeding: We educate and support," the ministry’s activities aim to raise community awareness of breastfeeding benefits, being the best way to feed babies, protect infants from diseases, and lower the risk of cancer and other diseases among mothers.
The "National Breastfeeding Conference" was one of the major activities organised by the ministry in Dubai to celebrate National Breastfeeding Week.
Attended by government and private institutions and bodies concerned with family and childhood, the conference discussed the latest regional and international developments with regard to breastfeeding, and highlighted the successful experience of the "Baby Friendly Hospitals" initiative, through which more than 87% of government hospitals have been accredited as child-friendly.
H.E. Salem Al Darmaki, Advisor to the Minister of Health and Prevention, and a number of MoHAP employees from the Family Health Department, as well as specialists from several hospitals providing maternity and lactation services, took part in the conference.
During the event, hospitals that have been granted the child-friendly accreditation have been honoured in addition to mothers who adhered to breastfeeding being the most successful method to form a healthy family relationship.
Over the course of the National Breastfeeding Week, child-friendly hospitals and other health centres will organise a string of educational seminars and lectures to outline theadvantages of breastfeeding and the importance of its continuity for both mothers and babies, as well as mechanisms to assist mothers to achieve successful breastfeeding.
Improving Infants’ quality of life
H.E. Hussain Abdul Rahman Al Rand, Assistant Undersecretary for the Public Health Sector, said that the ministry is very keen to encourage mothers to choose breastfeeding until the child is at least two years old, while introducing appropriate foods. Breastfeeding is very healthy for both mothers and babies. In addition to strengthening the immune system and protecting newborns from diseases, it also lowers the risks of ovarian, breast cancer, and prevents postpartum depression, thus improving the quality of mothers’ and babes’ life.
Entrenching breastfeeding practice
For his part, Al Darmaki stressed that the National Breastfeeding Week provides an opportunity to shed light on the UAE’s strenuous efforts made to protect breastfeeding and consolidate it as a practice, in order to create a healthy society whose members lead a healthy life.
He noted that the event demonstrates the government's commitment to enhancing the health of mothers and newborns by raising public awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding for children's physical and mental wellbeing. Al Darmaki noted that breastfeeding not only promotes a child's healthy development but also improves their nutrition, lowers their chance of developing non-communicable illnesses, and helps their cognitive growth.
He stressed that observing the annual occasion provides an opportunity to shed light on the UAE's strenuous efforts being made to protect and consolidate breastfeeding practice and build a community where everyone leads a healthy life, adding that the ministry’s activities come in line with the UAE’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030.