World Breastfeeding Week to be celebrated in August

The World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated annually from 1 to 7 August.

During World Breastfeeding Week, the Department of Health joins the world and organisations such as World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action, the World Health Organization and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world.

“We will be using this time to give information about breastfeeding and promote it as it plays a major role in our survival, especially in children under five,” said Charmaine Raseroka, a dietitian working at the Department of Health in Randfontein.

The objectives of World Breastfeeding Week is to emphasise the importance of supporting breastfeeding mothers to improve exclusive and continued breastfeeding, to highlight the role of family, community health-care workers and the workplace in creating an enabling environment that supports breastfeeding.