On the occasion of the World Breastfeeding Week held from August 1 to 7, WHO together with UNICEF and the Global Breastfeefing Collective NGO presented a report that ensures that If half of the newborns were exclusively breastfed until six months, it could save the lives of more than 800,000 children and 20,000 women a year, in addition to saving more than 300,000 million dollars every year.
Breast milk is the baby's first vaccine capable of giving him immunity against serious infections in the first years of life, some fatal, in addition to providing all the nutrients that the baby needs specially adapted for its stage of development. But not only that, breastfeeding is also beneficial for the mother's health.
The World Scoring Card for Breastfeeding, which has evaluated breastfeeding practices in 194 nations, reveals that only 40% of children under six months receive exclusive breastfeeding and only 23 countries have exclusive breastfeeding rates above 60%. The figures are well below the target set for 2015 that 50% of children should feed in that desirable way.
UNICEF and WHO say that no country in the world fully complies with breastfeeding recommendations.According to the study, entitled 'Nurturing the Health and Wealth of Nations: The Investment Case for Breastfeeding, presented on the occasion of the SMLM 2017, if they were invested annually $ 4.70 (3.9 euros) for each newborn, could save the lives of 823,000 children under five years.
Likewise, potentially 300,000 million dollars (253,000 million euros) could be generated in 10-year economic gains, as a result of the reduction of diseases and the costs of medical care, as well as the increase in productivity. That is, breastfeeding not only saves lives, but it would generate profits.
The advantages such as the best food for the baby are unquestionable, and in the case of mothers, the study states that breastfeeding could prevent up to 20,000 cases of deaths per year from breast cancer.
