According to Dr. Jasent Asiimwe, the head of nutrition at the health ministry, statistics show that 53% of mothers in Uganda breast feed their babies in the first hour of birth and yet the global target is at least 80%.

A mother breastfeeding her child in Uganda.

He also revealed that whereas children are supposed to be breastfed for at least 2 years after birth, only 48% of children are breastfed for that period across the country.

The experts were speaking during an event commemoration of the World Breastfeeding Week which is annually celebrated globally in the first week of August as a way of advocating and creating awareness about the need for mothers to exclusively breastfeed their children for six months so that they can gain immunity to fight common illnesses especially among children under 5 years.

However, the head of community health department at the ministry, Dr. Paul Kaggwa and UNICEF’s Specialist on nutrition, Awi Omega, urged men to always support their women during breast feeding period by providing them with better nutritious foods.

The World Breastfeeding Week 2016 theme is about how breastfeeding is a key element in getting us to think about how to value our wellbeing from the start of life, how to respect each other and care for the world we share.

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