DUSHANBE, August 2, 2008  - World Breastfeeding Week was launched in Tajikistan on August 1.  The campaign to propagate breastfeeding’s advantages is carried out by the Ministry of Health (MoH) under support of the UNICEF Co Tajikistan.   Supporting Nursing Mother – Gold Fund of the Future 

“Supporting Mums to Provide the Golden Start,” the theme of World Breastfeeding Week 2008, calls for enhanced community-based breastfeeding support systems and the development of national frameworks linking knowledge, as well as existing capacities and resources to protect and support breastfeeding at all levels.

Ms. Parvina Muhammadkhojayeva of the UNICEF CO Tajikistan said that according to UNICEF’s data, 25 percent of children under six months of age are exclusively breastfed and by the end of the first year of age the breastfeeding rate rises up to 75 percent.  Such figures make state of children in Tajikistan more beneficial compared to children from other countries in the region; however, additional nutrition rate still remains low – 15 percent, which is three times lower than an average rate in the region (45 percent).  

World Breastfeeding Week is observed in more than 120 countries by UNICEF and its partners, including the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action and the World Health Organization.  The aim is to promote exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life which yields tremendous health benefits, providing critical nutrients, protection from deadly diseases such as pneumonia, and fostering growth and development.  Continued breast feeding after six months, for up to two years of age or beyond, combined with safe and appropriate complementary feeding, is the optimal approach to child feeding.