Unicef promoting breast-feeding among Java earthquake survivors
Hoping to prevent an increase in the infant mortality rate in Yogyakarta and Central Java’s earthquake-hit areas, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) is providing breast-feeding counseling to residents of the worst affected regions.
Speaking to The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a seminar on breast milk and its substitutes held here recently, Unicef nutrition project officer Anna Winoto said the course was part of a nationwide program involving 14 provinces throughout Indonesia.
Recent surveys have shown an increase in the use of breast milk substitutes in the worst quake affected regions of Bantul in Yogyakarta and Klaten in Central Java, prompting Unicef to start the program in those areas.
The increase in the use of substitutes was sparked by the large amounts of logistic aid provided by donors.
“The surveys show that the use of breast milk substitutes in both regions has doubled among babies under two years of age since the earthquakes,” said Anna.
She said that feeding children breast milk substitutes in emergency situations was dangerous because of the lack of clean water and fuel needed to prepare the milk hygienically.
“The rise (in the use of substitutes) has increased the prevalence of diarrhea by six times among infants in (Bantul and Klaten),” said Anna, adding that there was an urgent need for a nationwide breast-feeding consulting program.
She said that consulting had proved effective in increasing the number of mothers providing their babies exclusively with breast milk in their first six months of life. She added that a study had said that exclusive breast-feeding was the most effective mode of preventing high infant mortality rates.
Utami Roesli of the Indonesian Breast-feeding Center, which is organizing Unicef’s breast-feeding course here, said the course would involve 72 villages in the two regencies.
“We have sent our 12 first line consultants for the course. Each is overseeing six village and each village will be required to send six women to be trained as breast-feeding consultants through the course,” Utami said.
The 40-hour course, which began on Aug. 14 and is scheduled to finish on Sept. 24, was designed by Unicef and the World Health Organization, Utami said.
Upon finishing the course, each of the 432 women who took part will be required to pass their knowledge on to five breast-feeding mothers, who in turn are required to disseminate their knowledge to at least two other mothers in their neighborhoods.
“So by the end of the program, at least 6,480 mothers are expected to know about the importance of providing exclusive breast-feeding for the first six months and continuing breast-feeding and providing healthy additional baby food until the child is two years of age,” Utami said.
All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post. www.thejakartapost.com