GENEVA: New mothers infected with Covid-19 should generally continue breastfeeding and should not be separated from their babies, the World Health Organisation said on Friday, stressing that the benefits outweighed the risks.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference that the UN health agency had thoroughly investigated the risks of women transmitting the new coronavirus to their babies when breastfeeding.

“We know that children are at relatively low-risk of Covid-19, but are at high risk of numerous other diseases and conditions that breastfeeding prevents,” he said.

“Based on the available evidence, WHO’s advice is that the benefits of breastfeeding outweigh any potential risks of transmission of Covid-19,” he added.

Anshu Banerjee, the WHO’s senior advisor for reproductive health and research, told the briefing that, so far, the live virus that causes Covid-19 had not been found in breast milk.

“Mothers with suspected or confirmed Covid-19 should be encouraged to initiate and continue breastfeeding and not be separated from their infants, unless the mother is too unwell,” Tedros said.

Vaccine to be shared as a public good

Vaccines for the new coronavirus should be made available as a global public good, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday, to ensure everyone had fair access to any life-saving products that are developed.

“Many leaders...have promoted the idea of making any vaccine a global public good, but that should continue to be promoted,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.

“More leaders should join the boat, and we need to have a truly global political commitment and global consensus before we even have the product,” he said. “That is what we are pushing.” Tedros was speaking after concerns have been raised that some countries including the United States could hoard any vaccines or drugs they develop to combat Covid-19, with poorer countries not getting access to the treatments they need.

The current situation in Brazil, now one of the global hot-spots for the virus, was of increasing concern especially in cities, the WHO’s top emergency expert Mike Ryan said.

Brazil’s health system was “still coping”, although some intensive care units were at a critical stage and under heavy pressure with more than 90% bed occupancy rates, Ryan said.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2020