World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) Background And MAA

World Breastfeeding Week is an annual celebration from 1 to 7 August commemorating the 1990 Innocenti Declaration. It was founded in 1992 to emphasize the important benefits of breastfeeding for both babies and mothers. The theme of this year's celebration is "Enabling Breastfeeding: Making a Difference for working parents".

Background:

• Since 2016, the event has been aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), promoting the importance of breastfeeding in achieving these global objectives.

• In 2018, the World Health Assembly recognized World Breastfeeding Week as an important strategy to promote breastfeeding.

• The main objective of World Breastfeeding Week is to raise awareness of the many benefits of breastfeeding for the health and well-being of babies and mothers.

• The focus is on highlighting its role in providing good nutrition, reducing poverty and ensuring food security.

MAA - "Mothers Absolute Affection"

• It is a nationwide programme of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to promote breastfeeding and provision of counselling services for supporting breastfeeding through health systems.

• The program was launched at the national level on 5 August 2016.