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World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated from 1 and to August 7 of each year. "Breastfeeding, the foundation of life" is the theme chosen for 2018. According to the Minister of Health and Population, the Congo is one of the sub-Saharan countries in decline in the practice of exclusive breastfeeding up to six months. At the national level, she continued, the exclusive breastfeeding rate went from 19% to 33% between 2005 and 2015. The rate of early breastfeeding has, meanwhile, decreased from 39% to 25%. The regressive trend also affects rates of continuous breastfeeding at one and two years. "During the same period, the mean duration of breastfeeding decreased from 17 to 15.6 months as compared with the WHO-recommended duration of 24 months or more. Unicef ", underlined Jacqueline Lydia Mikolo
These low rates reflect the persistence of poor breastfeeding practices and may be a constraint to achieving the goal sustainable development n ° 2 which deals with zero hunger, the fight against food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms, explained the Minister of Health and Population. In fact, she said, breastfeeding covers all the water, nutrient and energy needs of babies under six months of age. It also helps reduce the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, she added.
There are several disadvantages to breast-milk substitutes or artificial milks. They increase the risk of death of infants less than six months fourteen times, expose them to the risk of diarrhea and respiratory infections due to lack of antibodies, greater risk of malnutrition, higher risk of noncommunicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes …
"To mothers, I will say that breast milk is the best and only food for their children under six months. I further recommend continuing breastfeeding for up to twenty-four months or more, combining it with appropriate complementary feeding. " Minister of Health and Population
Jacqueline Lydia Mikolo told the pharmaceutical companies promoting artificial milks that she had complied with the international code of marketing of breast-milk substitutes that Congo had signed for several years. She also thanked the technical and financial partners who are helping the Congolese government to fight the decline in breastfeeding.
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