The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Breastfeeding is also a human rights issue: Minister

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 06, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Breastfeeding is also a human rights issue: Minister

Staff Reporter

Rs. 1,000 crore is spent for combating respiratory diseases

CHENNAI : Lack of mother's milk is a major cause for nearly half-a-million deaths among children globally every year.

The children die of their inability to develop resistance to respiratory or gastroenteritis-related diseases, because they did not consume mother's milk at least in the first six months of life.

These points were the highlighted by Social Welfare Minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna at a function, organised as part of World Breastfeeding Week, in MOP Vaishnav College here on Friday.

She said the Government spent over Rs.1000 crore annually to combat respiratory diseases and gastroenteritis among children.

"It is not as if we do not want to spend the money, but if the children had been protected by being duly breast fed , the money spent could be used better on the babies," she said.

Dr. Poongothai said breastfeeding was a woman's issue, a health issue and a human rights issue, as it concerned both mother and child. Research showed that breastfeeding reduced the chances of mothers contracting breast cancer or ovarian cancer.

The day's meeting was organised by the Union Department of Women and Child Development, Community Food and Nutrition Extension Unit and the college's Nutrition and Dietetics Department.

Workshop

A workshop on `The Infant Milk Substitutes Act: Making it Known to the People,' was also held on the occasion. Speakers highlighted the features of The Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 1992, as amended in 2003. P. Chandra, former Professor and Head of the Department of Paediatrics, Stanley Medical College, said the country had the saddest distinction of having the highest number of under-five deaths, which could be directly attributed to lack of breastfeeding and a choice of infant milk substitutes.

J. Kumudha, Professor of Paediatrics, Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Egmore, said a survey conducted on breastfeeding in the Indian scenario showed that 70 per cent of the mothers breastfed their babies in an hour after birth and 73 per cent said that they fed their babies with the initial colostrum secretion.

Among those who participated included C.D. Natarajan, Additional Professor of Paediatrics, Institute of Child Health, Kumari Menon, Senior consultant of Paediatrics, Vijaya Hospital and K. Nirmala Prasad, Principal, MOP Vaishnav College.

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