By Asmau Ahmad with Agency Report
A Nutritionist with the United Nations, Dr John Egbuta, on Monday advocated consistency in adhering to breastfeeding awareness programmes with properly documentation in the ministry of health in the country.
Egbuta said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. According to him, breastfeeding awareness programme in the country is not being sustained, practised and documented as part of the series of programmes in the appropriate ministry at federal, state and local government levels.
“Government should sustain every effort they have put in place. It is not something that should be periodic.
“It is something that should, in fact, be in place and be practiced from the Federal Government to the state government, to the local government, to the communities.
“These programmes are designed as a way of building the capacity of the entire system so that anybody who has been trained, for example, on breastfeeding practice and procedure, the breastfeeding counseling and all that should, in fact, be putting it as part of their programmes in the Ministry of Health.
“Just reminding us that there is a breastfeeding week which is normally the first week of August, is not enough.
“But how much have we done to sustain it round the year, so that the child is born in August can also have the benefit of having the kind of information that is given during the month of August.
“Those in January, in February, up till December, there should be a way of reinforcing this education, reinforcing the training that has been conducted all over the country.
“That is the only way we can sustain it.’’
