ISSUE: II                                                                                                                                    December 2006
 
IN THIS ISSUE

South Asia Breastfeeding Partners Forum-3
Kabul, Afghanistan, November 20 - 22, 2006

Theme:
Breastmilk Saves Money, Saves Lives
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Speech
--by Dr. Arun Gupta ,MD, FIAP, National Coordinator, BPNI, INDIA, Regional Coordinator IBFAN Asia Pacific



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The South Asia Breastfeeding Partners’ Forum-3, organized around the theme “Breastfeeding Saves Lives, Saves Money”, by the Ministry of Public Health, Afghanistan and the Afghanistan Breastfeeding Promotion Partners along with IBFAN-Asia Pacific, WABA, and supported by WHO, UNICEF and several other organizations. Representatives from the government and civil society organizations from the eight South Asian nations deliberated on strategies to reduce infant mortality.

The Honorable Dr. Sayed M. Amin Fatimi, Aghanistan’s Minister of Public Health released the State of the World’s Breastfeeding – South Asia Report Card, in Kabul on 20th November at the inauguration of the South Asia Breastfeeding Forum -3, an international gathering of health professionals and policy makers. The Report Card assesses and rates the practices, policy and programs related to Infant and Young Child Feeding in eight countries of the region, and ranks them on their performance in promoting IYCF. The countries are Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
South Asia Report Cards
The Report Cards reveals that the region has barely reached the halfway mark in creating the enabling environment for optimal infant and young child nutrition. Sri Lanka is closest to the half way mark, followed by Bangladesh.
for full report cards and more details visit at: www.worldbreastfeedingtrends.org

A media brief of the release of The State of World's Breastfeeding: South Asia Report Card-2006 :The media brief, titled New Commitments to Reduce Infant Mortality in South Asia made at Kabul, addresses the issues of infant mortality and neonatal deaths and ranks the policy and program efforts of the eight countries to implement critical Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) measures to reduce the unacceptably high infant mortality rates. The media brief also includes the Kabul Declaration issued at the international meeting highlighting steps that the countries need to take urgently to bring down infant deaths. Full download

The Kabul Declaration on IYCF, endorsed by the Forum, incorporates the priorities and conclusions arrived at after three days of deliberations, including the urgent need to set up a SAARC fund for infant nutrition. While releasing the Declaration, Dr. Faizullah Kakar, Technical Deputy Minister, Ministry of Public Health said,” We will put breastfeeding on a high priority in the health program as we have done with mental health. He reiterated saying that “You can check with me after one year what have we done”.

Full download
 


Country’s Presentations

   Afghanistan

   

    Bangladesh

   

  Bhutan

   

    Nepal

   



   India

   

    Srilanka