World Breastfeeding Week, marked every year from August 1 to 7, was established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to support and promote breastfeeding, along with protection associated rights.

The observance also commemorates the Innocenti Declaration, signed in 1990, which named breastfeeding a contributor to an infant’s healthy growth. The policy noted it also reduces incidence of severe illness.

WHO, alongside UNICEF, will work together this year in promoting the importance of breastfeeding within the first hour of life.

According to the agency’s website, “Skin-to-skin contact, along with suckling at the breast, stimulate the production of breastmilk, including colostrum, also called the baby’s ‘first vaccine,’ which is extremely rich in nutrients and antibodies.”

Earlier this year, Iloilo City Councilor Candice Magdalene Tupas, who chairs the committee on health, called a meeting regarding compliance with an ordinance that mandates establishments provide breastfeeding stations.

According to the city official, the City Engineer’s Office must prioritize the installation of the said facilities in newly-built structures./WDJ