MoPH and partners celebrate World Breastfeeding Week

Doha: The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) in conjunction with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), and Sidra Medicine, is highlighting World Breastfeeding Week from August 1 to 7 under the theme: “Protect Breastfeeding: A Shared Responsibility” to draw attention to the importance of supporting women to successfully breastfeed their babies, especially within the first few hours of giving birth and exclusively throughout babies’ first six months.

On this occasion, the MoPH and its partners are launching an awareness campaign to promote breastfeeding. Awareness lectures will be held in Arabic and English at the mother and child forum to discuss the importance of breastfeeding for mother and child, common challenges related to breastfeeding, as well as ways to access health services related to breastfeeding. Moreover, face-to-face virtual breastfeeding educational sessions will be run by the Women’s Wellness and Research Center’s (WWRC), and community awareness will be intensified using media and social media to deliver messages that support breastfeeding. Dr Sadriya Al Kohji, Assistant Medical Director for Children and Adolescent Services at PHCC and National Lead for Healthy Children and Adolescents Strategies, has  stated that the health sector in Qatar continues its efforts to achieve the national goal of increasing exclusive breastfeeding throughout the first six months of the infant's life, as part of the National Health Strategy 2018-2022, as well as to advocate breastfeeding until the age of two years in order to provide a healthier life for children. She added that such efforts are also in line with the global strategy for infant and young child feeding by protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding.