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The Department of Health (DH) is committed to the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding in collaboration with different stakeholders in the community. The DH has launched a series of health educational materials for healthcare professionals and the public to offer support to breastfeeding mothers.
The DH endorses the recommendations of World Health Organization's expert consultation group on breastfeeding and encourages exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months after birth, with subsequent introduction of complementary food while continuing breastfeeding until the age of two or beyond.
Speaking at a press conference today (July 28) to mark 2012 World Breastfeeding Week, Senior Medical Officer Dr Barbara Fung said, "Breastmilk is the best natural food for babies. It offers many immediate and long-term health benefits for babies and their mothers and promotes emotional bonding between mother and child."
Dr Fung said a multi-media e-learning kit for medical practitioners was launched in December 2011 to support the needs of breastfeeding mothers. It is designed to equip obstetricians, paediatricians and family physicians, who frequently encounter expectant or breastfeeding mothers, with the knowledge and skills to support breastfeeding mothers and manage lactation problems.
In addition, a breastfeeding flip-chart and a breastfeeding information booklet have been introduced to help healthcare professionals in providing individual counselling to expectant and lactating mothers as well as promote breastfeeding among the general public. An antenatal breastfeeding workshop resource pack and an automated PowerPoint on breastfeeding will also be made available soon.
Recognising the implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes as an important public health measure to protect breastfeeding and ensure proper use of breastmilk substitutes through appropriate marketing practices, the DH set up a multi-disciplinary taskforce to develop and promote the Hong Kong Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in June 2010.
"We will consult the trade and collect the views of various parties when the drafting of the Hong Kong Code is completed," said Dr Fung.
On the trends in the prevalence and duration of breastfeeding in Hong Kong, Dr Fung said the regular breastfeeding survey conducted by the DH's Family Health Service in Maternal and Child Health Centres since 1998 showed that the ever breastfeeding rate (proportion of babies who had been breastfed) has increased from 50 per cent for babies born in 1997 to 77 per cent for babies born in 2010. The exclusive breastfeeding rate (no infant formula milk or complementary food) for babies four to six months old increased from 6 per cent to 14.8 per cent for the same cohort of babies.
Dr Fung called for sustained and concerted efforts from all sectors of the community, including families, healthcare professionals, the media and employers, to give encouragement and support to mothers to breastfeed their babies for a longer period.
World Breastfeeding Week is observed annually from August 1 to 7 in more than 170 countries. To mark its 20th anniversary this year, the DH, Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Hong Kong Association and the Hospital Authority have co-organised a series of publicity and education activities. This year's theme is "Understanding the Past - Planning the Future", which aims to review past achievements for better planning in the future.
The event will be further promoted through TV and radio advertisements, newspaper feature articles and media interviews to raise community awareness of breastfeeding.
Ends/Saturday, July 28, 2012
Issued at HKT 12:30
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