Caption: Keen fathers from PNG Power, Fabian Mala (first left) and HanuaRabu (centre) gather vital information pamphlets.
By MATTHEW VARI
Sunday, August 25, 2013 (Sunday Chronicle, PNG)
THE National Health Department in collaboration with NCD Health Serviceand the Susu Mama Clinic were out last week at the PNG Power head office at Hohola, in Port Moresby- to provide awareness on exclusive breastfeeding as part of the National Health Week from the August 19 to 21.
A team from the Health Department and NCD Health Service were on hand to provide firsthand information on exclusive breastfeeding, which advocates that new born babies should be only breastfed in the first six months.
PNG power was the first organization to request the visit that was held during their lunch break- with keen employees turning up, both male and female.
Speaking at the gathering, Wilson Karoke, a nutritionist with the health department said that according to world health statistics, over 1.3 million deaths could be avoided if exclusive breastfeeding was practiced by mothers in the first six months of an infant’s life.
He also said that 37 per cent of deaths of children under 5 years could also be prevented if exclusively breastfed- saying that in PNG, only one-third of mothers breastfeed exclusively.
One reason this occurs in PNG is due to the number of teenage pregnancies, where the mothers are too young to manage their kids, leaving their kids with grandparents or their parents, who are then forced to feed them food, which their tiny digestive systems aren’t ready to cope with.
There is also the situation where a lot of mother are working and cannot afford to lose their jobs as there isn’t a law in place to protect the exclusive feeding period.
When asked by the workers if there are plans to make a policy for exclusive breastfeeding to be compulsory for working class mothers- MrKaroke said that they were in the process of coming up with a policy to present to government, however, he said they may face stiff opposition from the private sector.
Lillian Gadebo from the Susu Mama Clinic, was impressed with the turnout of a lot of fathers at the gathering
“It’s great to see more fathers, as exclusive breastfeeding will be achieved if you work hand-in-hand with your partners,” she said.
She emphasized the importance of positioning the baby properly in order for the child to suckle effectively and get the required amount of milk.
PNG Power Group Manager, John Mandali, urged fathers to play a bigger responsible role in making sure that exclusive breastfeeding was maintained as it protected the health and growth of their children.
“I hope the Department of Health and NCD Health find ways to bring about legislation so we can prevent illnesses that affect our children as a result of non-exclusive breastfeeding,” he added.
He thanked the team for the work they were doing and hoped that they would organize a much bigger forum for the workers on health issues later on as the hour seemed insufficient for such important awareness.
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