Bhubaneswar: As part of World Breastfeeding Week 2025 (August 1-7), the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare, in collaboration with Unicef, organised a media workshop Thursday at its conference hall to highlight the theme, ‘Prioritise Breastfeeding: Create Sustainable Support Systems.’
The workshop emphasised the importance of breastfeeding in ensuring long-term health for children and mothers, urging collective efforts to build sustainable support systems.
“Our department is actively creating an enabling environment through counselling and community awareness, ensuring mothers get the right support to continue breastfeeding,” said director of Family Welfare Rajyashree Pattnaik.
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“Prioritising breastfeeding is not just a health choice, it’s an investment in the future,” she added.
UNICEF nutrition specialist Sourav Bhattacharjee emphasised the environmental and societal benefits, stating, “Breastfeeding is not just a personal choice; it’s a societal responsibility.
It reduces reliance on packaged infant foods that contribute to carbon emissions. We need safe public spaces for breastfeeding and stronger maternity protection.”
Additional director of Child Health, Aditya Mohapatra, added, “Breastfeeding is the first vaccine.
It protects against infections and lowers the mother’s risk of certain diseases.”
Odisha continues to lead in breastfeeding practices, with NFHS-5 showing 68.5 per cent of newborns breastfed within an hour of birth and 72.9 per cent exclusively breastfed under six months.
PNN
