World Breastfeeding Week 2017

 The 25th World Breastfeeding Week was successfully observed from 1-7 August, 2017 in  Bangladesh. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Directorate of Health Services  (DGHS), Directorate of Family Planning (DGFP), Institute of Public Health (IPHN) and Bangladesh  Breastfeeding Foundation (BBF) along with the support of other stakeholders contributed most  to make the event successful and build the momentum of the Infant and Young Child Feeding  (IYCF) activities in joint efforts considering this year’s theme- ‘‘Sustaining Breastfeeding-  TOGETHER’’ to achieve SDGs.

 Inauguration ceremony of WBW17 

 The Inauguration Ceremony of WBW-2017 was held on August 1, 2017 at the Osmani Smrity  Milonayaton at 11.00 am. Honorable Minister for Ministry of Health and Family Welfare  (MOHFW) of Bangladesh Mr. Mohammad Nasim, MP graced the occasion as the Chief Guest.

 Honorable State Minister, Mr. Zahid Maleque MP, MOHFW and Md. Sirazul Islam, Honorable  Secretary, Health Education and Family Welfare Services, MOHFW were present as Special  Guests, Professor Dr. Abul Kalam Azad, Director General, Directorate General of Health  Services and Mr. Dr. Kazi Mustafa Sarwar, Director General, Directorate General of Family  Planning were present as the Guest of Honor, Dr. SK Roy, the Chairperson, Board of Trustees of BBF were present as Key Note Speaker. The ceremony was chaired by Mr. Sirajul Haque Khan, Honorable Secretary, Health Service Division, MOHFW

Ms. Roxana Quader, Additional Secretary (PH & WH), Health Services Division, MOHFW welcomed all the Honorable guests and the participants. Dr. A B M Muzharul Islam, Director IPHN and Line Director, NNS provided vote of thanks to all for their contribution to make the event successful.

The event received an overwhelming response from across the organizations. A total of 94 organizations were represented in the inaugural ceremony of WBW-2017 in the form of Ministries, Government bodies, IYCF Stakeholders, Govt. and Private Medical College and Hospitals, Professional Societies and groups, Nutritionists, NGOs, Development partners, Public & private universities and Colleges, Media personnel from electronic and print media The ceremony began with recitation from four holy books- Al Quran, Geeta, Bible and Tripitaka.

After then, a video message from the Dato (Dr.) Anwar Fazal, Chairperson Emeritus of World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) telecasted among the audience. In the video, he greeted and wished Bangladesh on this celebrations and reflected on the theme of this year.

Species of the Chief Guest Honorable Minister for Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) of Bangladesh Mr. Mohammad Nasim,MP

Honorable Minister urged to the employers to establish breastfeeding corner at the work place of mothers. We have achieved success in reducing infant mortality and child mortality, still we need to work on this sector intensively. Every educated or uneducated mother should be conscious about giving breast milk to their children. In his speech, he thanked Prof. Dr. S K Roy, Chairperson, BBF and Bangladesh Breastfeeding Foundation (BBF) for their hard word for celebrating this events. He also expressed that we have strengthened BBF and will more strengthen BBF by allocating more funds and land for BBF’s won office.

Exhibition on mother & child health nutrition

WBW-2017 also featured an exhibition on mother & child health nutrition. Well-reputed national organizations participated including Institute of Public Health Nutrition and Bangladesh Breastfeeding Foundation (BBF) who candidly displayed and shared their activities on this occasion.

The organizations showcased their activity by displaying demonstration, photograph, IEC Materials etc. in the stall during the Inaugural

ceremony. This fair offered a unique opportunity to the national delegates and visitors in acquiring an insight into their activities  in the area of Nutrition, Breastfeeding, Complementary feeding, IYCF, Maternal Nutrition, Dietary Diversity, Nutrition Education and SDG programs, exhibited under single umbrella.

All the 14 national exhibitors impressively displayed their activities through various stalls. There were three organizations like Social Development Foundation (SDF), Nutrition Society of Bangladesh and National College of Home Economics, who participated in this event for the first time.