According to the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), exclusive breastfeeding, combined with adequate complementary feeding have been identified as successful interventions in enhancing child survival, potentially saving about 20% of children under five.
Through exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life and complementary feeding for up to two years or beyond, children obtain the much desired nutrients for growth and are protected against common illnesses including diarrhoea.
As the world marks this year’s Breastfeeding Week under the theme ‘Breastfeeding: A Winning Goal for Life,’ CHS recognises the importance of breastfeeding and continues to contribute to child survival through the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding.
World Breastfeeding Week aims to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. It commemorates the Innocenti Declaration made by World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) policy-makers in August 1990 to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding is however challenging among women living with HIV because of the possibility of passing the HIV virus to their children through breast milk. Through its Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) platform, CHS encourages mothers to adhere to the recommended Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) as they breastfeed in order to ensure that infants can exclusively breastfeed during their first six months of life. This ensures that the infants get the much-needed nutrition while at the same time protecting them from mother to child transmission of HIV.
In line with MDG 4, CHS is contributing to the reduction of child mortality through scaling up of PMTCT services, integration of ART services into the mother and child health clinic, employing clinical officers dedicated to PMTCT, training health care workers, facilitating peer education and psychosocial support through mentor mothers and implementing defaulter identification and tracking mechanisms.
Read Charity Wambui’s experience on exclusively breastfeeding her son despite her HIV status on this link
