Imphal, August 5 (EMN): Breastfeeding Promotion Alliance of Manipur (BPAM) and GP Women’s college jointly organised an interactive session to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies at premises of the college here on Saturday. State education minister Th Radheshyam, Principal Dr B Lalhari Sharma of GP Women’s college and advisor Dr Ksh Chourjit, advisor BPAM attended the inauguration of the interactive session along with doctors, lecturers, students and media persons.
The objective of holding the interactive session is to support breastfeeding mothers through community, friends and childcare providers as the awareness level is still very poor in the state. In Manipur, 66 % of children are breastfed against the national average of 46 % as per a survey conducted by the BPAM, according to Dr Chourjit, a well known paediatrician.
Addressing the gathering, Dr Chourjit said many mothers depend on formula milk in the state due to various factors instead of exclusively breastfeeding newborns as recommended by the World authority. But breastfeeding is the best way to provide infants with the nutrients they need as no formula milk can compare with mother’s milk, he added while highlighting the importance of mother’s milk even in the popular Manipuri song ‘Khomlang Laman’.
Sharing a similar sentiment, Gynaecologist Dr Trinity of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences hospital here, said that Infant Milk Substitute(IMS) was an act that will safeguard both the environment and the right to breastfeed, all items of promotion of foods for babies under two years by manufacturers, all advertisement in any media, giving gifts and free samples to mothers and health care providers, donation of educational materials, equipment or baby foods and carrying a picture of a mother or baby on the labels of baby foods are banned.
He also sought support from all walks of life in effective implementation and monitoring of the IMS Act in all districts of the state. Teachers of GP Women’s college also spoke on the occasion. The programme was with the theme ‘sustaining breastfeeding together’, the World Breastfeeding Week as part of ongoing World Breastfeeding Week, an initiative of the UNICEF, across the state from August 1-7.
