By Fanen Ihyongo, Kano
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has tasked Nigerian journalists to participate actively, through their reports, in sensitising the public on the importance of breastfeeding.
The engagement took place at a one-day media dialogue held at Tahir Quest Palace, Kano, in commemoration of this year’s World Breastfeeding Week (WBFW).
Officer-in-Charge (OIC),UNICEF Field Office Kano, Michael Banda, gave the theme for the 2021 WBFW as ‘Protect Breastfeeding: A Shared Responsibility,’ explaining that it focuses attention on the role everyone should play in supporting breastfeeding at all levels, including community and family levels, with special focus on reiteration of COVID-19 messages to enhance breastfeeding.
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“Breastfeeding plays an important role in the life of the child, so much that the first breast milk a child receives when he is born is indeed his immunisation, as the colostrum in that first flow from the child’s mother contains immunity-conferring benefits on the child,” Banda said.
UNICEF Communication Specialist, Samuel Kaalu, who spoke on the objectives of the Media Dialogue, which was organised by UNICEF, in collaboration with Abubakar Rimi Television, said the meeting sought to inform journalists to focus on breastfeeding in their news stories and programmes.
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