Thursday, May 03, 2007 Health dept’ launches breastfeeding drive By Carlo P. Mallo
THE Department of Health (DOH)-Southern Mindanao on Wednesday took the war against infant milk formula a notch higher through a simultaneous breastfeeding activity throughout the country.
"There's no better way to advance the benefits of breastfeeding than through active promotion of such," said Dr. Ma. Socorro de Gracia, chief of the Health Operations Division of DOH-Southern Mindanao.
DOH initiated a massive advocacy campaign for mothers to breastfeed their children.
"Breastfeeding is the most cost effective and safest way to feed our babies," de Gracia said.
She said it may seem an uphill battle against the multi-national companies behind infant formula that rake in millions of pesos worth of profit.
She cited the benefits that breastfeeding has that no other infant milk formula could offer, saying mother's milk contains proteins such as immunoglobulins that help boost the immune system of the infant, as it has anti-bodies in it.
De Gracia added that a mother's milk is like no other as it is formulated according to the needs of the child.
