KARACHI: Sindh caretaker Minister for Health, Education and Population Welfare Dr Saadia Rizvi on Monday said the rate of breastfeeding was a meagre 37 per cent in the province which was a key factor behind preventable lethal diseases and deaths of children.

“This (gravely low ratio of breastfeeding) is one of the main reasons of diarrhoea and other childhood diseases which cause death of thousands of children,” said the caretaker minister while addressing at a programme aimed at promoting breastfeeding, which was organised by the Nutrition Support Programme and several other organisations at the Dow University of Health Sciences’ premises.

Dr Rizvi stressed upon healthcare providers to accord adequate time to counsel and convince mothers on how breastfeeding could bring better health for them and their children.

She asked paediatricians and related government departments to work in coordination for getting better results for which, she said, her ministry would provide full support in all respects.

Dr Zahoor Baloch, programme manager of the Nutrition Support Programme Sindh, briefed the participants about the key functions of his organisation, which had been established by the government to take steps to reduce the alarming rates of stunting and wasting among children in the province.

The participants were informed that in the first phase 12 districts of Sindh were being covered with the objective to reduce the high levels of malnutrition there.

Those districts included Khairpur, Ghotki, Umerkot, Naushahro Feroze, Sanghar and Karachi.

The audience was informed that the health staff linked with delivery and care of child would be trained and subsequently they would counsel and help mothers for breastfeeding.

Prof Jamal Raza, president of Pakistan Paediatric Association Sindh presented, what he called, ‘action points’ for improving Sindh’s breastfeeding profile.

Prof Raza asked the media to accord help to the organisations working for the initiative. He gave suggestions to further improve the current law relating to infant feeding.

He recommended that the act be improved in light of the World Health Organisation’s Code of 2016 asking for banning advertisement about all under-three year milk formulas.

On paper, the breastfeeding law, which was discussed at the programme, promises a radical turnaround, but the activists are upset over the media campaign by formula milk companies in which they criticised the related organisations in Sindh.

While around 35 per cent children below the age of six months are breastfed in Pakistan, the ratio in Sindh is even below the national averages.

Prof Sadia Paul, vice president of the Society of Obstetricians, explained the role to be played by health workers to improve the ratio of breastfeeding.

A representative of Unicef offered full support for the initiatives working to improve health of children in Sindh.

Prof Kartar Dawani, principal, Dow Medical College, spoke over the role of DUHS in spearheading community health programmes.

He said DUHS and DMC would be there to support such programmes in future.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2018