Kyrgyzstan among countries with low breastfeeding rates

A campaign timed to the World Breastfeeding Week is held annually in Kyrgyzstan from August 1 till August 7. This year it will be held under the motto «We will support breastfeeding at any time and in any place!»

According to the Ministry of Health, hotlines were opened, consultations on breastfeeding, round table discussions, lectures, and educational discussions with mothers and pregnant women will take place in all health care organizations (family medicine centers, maternity hospitals, perinatal centers, children’s hospitals).

WHO recommends only breastfeeding of children until they reach six months, and then, together with adequate supplementary baby food, continue breastfeeding for up to two years or more.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), violations of the law on breastfeeding in Kyrgyzstan have led to the fact that more than half of children under six months are not exclusively breastfed.

Kyrgyzstan was one of the first among CIS countries to adopt in 2008 the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic On the Protection of Breastfeeding of Children and the Regulation of Marketing of Products and Means for the Artificial Feeding of Children.