母乳餵哺是史上最实惠、最有效的儿童救星

母乳餵哺是史上最实惠、最有效的儿童救星

2013-08-01

纽约／香港，2013年8月1日──每年一度的「国际母乳哺育周」今天展开，联合国儿童基金会（UNICEF）一直致力于母乳餵哺的工作，藉此重申母乳餵哺是众多拯救儿童的生命中，最有效、最实惠的方法。然而，全球6个月以下儿童当中，仅有不足一半能受惠于纯母乳餵哺，反映强而有力的主导倡议是不可或缺的。

「世上沒有任可单一的健康措施，能像母乳餵哺一样，可对母婴带来如此巨大的益处，而对政府所带来的经济负担却极轻微。」UNICEF副执行主任吉塔．饶．古普塔（Geeta Rao Gupta）续指，「母乳餵哺是婴儿的第一道疫苗，同时是史上最有效、最实惠的救星。」

在出生后接受纯母乳哺育的儿童，他们的生存率较非母乳哺育的儿童于首6个月的存活率足高出14倍；而在出生后的第一天，开始餵哺母乳，更可减低新生儿死亡风险达45％。

母乳餵哺同时有助提高儿童的学习能力、预防肥胖，及将来患上慢性疾病的机会。英、美两国近期的研究亦指出，母乳餵哺犹如建立庞大的健康宝库，因为接受母乳哺育的儿童患病的机会，较非母乳哺育的儿童明显少。

Niger, November 2012. Haouaou Abdou, 52, mother of 6 children is smiling at her youngest son Issiakou, 8 months, in the village of Mazadou Abdou. By Jessica Mony In 2011, droughts across the Sahel plunged millions of families into a food crisis. A year after UNICEF and partners emergency response began, we ask ourselves how can we stop this vulnerability and persistent cycle of suffering? A poor, rural Nigerien village 600 people may hold the answer. Here, despite every familys struggle during the drought, no child suffered malnutrition in 2012. Just three years ago it was rare for a week to go by without a child dying from combinations of malnutrition, diarrhoea and malaria in Mazadou Abdou village. During the frequent droughts, at times this would rise to two or three. No family was spared the pain of loss and mourning. Haouoau and Loli Abdou are just one set of parents that faced this tragedy. Loli holds up three fingers and lists that in 2000, 2002 and then again in 2004 they lost three children to malaria. Looking solemnly at their healthy 8 month baby boy Issiakou, it is clear the scars will likely never heal for this family. Sadly, their situation is not unique in this or any other village across the Sahel. Fortunately, in 2008 a simple UNICEF programme of family practices helped change all of this. The practices are simple and include exclusive eastfeeding for the first six months of life; complementary feeding for children after six months; proper hand-washing techniques; treatment of diarrhoea; knowledge of how to seek medical care; immunisation; using mosquito nets to prevent malaria; promotion of delayed pregnancies and girls education. The results of adhering to these practices for the children of Mazadou Abdou have been significant. Moutari Louali, a community volunteer who is helping to implement the programme explains the impact. Before the programme started, around four to five children would die every month from malaria, diarrhoea and other diseases. Now, during the whole of this year only three children died, and this was because of miscarriages. From the chief through to parents and children themselves, the whole village is determined that no child should die from preventable diseases. Haouaou is clearly proud of the result In this village we didnt have any malnutrition because we take care of our children. I am very happy about how healthy our children are. At the heart of the programme are volunteers like Moutari who, along with two other volunteers selected by the community, ensure that every family implements the practices and monitors progress. Every week the group visit up to five families to run information sessions. Today, Moutari is visiting Hoauoaus household. Starting with an update on the health of their children, Moutari then calls a mother and her child forward to demonstrate a particular practice. Today its the use of mosquito nets and hand washing. Everyone here comes to listen and learn. Haouaou points at two of her daughters who were born before and after the programme started and she learnt about the benefits of exclusive eastfeeding. Look you can see this one is much stronger. Whilst drought, hunger and vulnerability are an ongoing reality for these families, their efforts to implement the programme are the key to ensuring their children not only survive, but are resilient through times of drought and extreme hardship. Issa Iahim the 63 year old chief of Mazadou Abdou describes the precarious situation many families across the Sahel live in. In this village our life is based around farming. The difficulty of this life is that if the rainy season doesnt give a good harvest, life becomes extremely difficult for us. For now the health of their children is safe, but the challenges ahead for the village are immense. A community run cereal bank will help tide them over for a while, but after this the only other option for many families is for husbands and fathers to head to Nigeria to search for work. Haouaou has thirty bowls of millet to feed her family until the harvest a year away. It will only last a month. She holds out the bowl and laughs nervously. What can we do? Whilst Mazadou Abdous families continue to walk a tightrope of vulnerability, their newfound knowledge will keep their children alive and healthy. It is not the whole solution, but it provides the hope of a future for their most precious resource, their children. The Chief is thankful for how far they have come. We are very proud and happy for what we have done here. We thank God, we thank the people who taught us these practices, but he is also conscious of the toll of chronic hunger on the future of this community; If a man is hungry he cannot hear, he cannot learn anything. The impact of the emergency response across the Sahel can be seen in the short term in the lives saved and the malnutrition prevented. For vulnerable families like Haouaous though, building resilience and food security will be key to long term change. This village has demonstrated the success of community driven initiatives to improve childrens health, but more support is needed to ensure communities across the Sahel are able to withstand crises. Haouaou tries not to think about what might happen a year from now; Nobody can forsee the future. Even if we wait and hope for the best, anything can happen at any moment. UK Natcom - for local copies of the files: Y:Key-initiativesIFSahel-Stories-2012Niger

Niger, November 2012. Haouaou Abdou, 52, mother of 6 children is carries her youngest son, is Issiakou, 8 months, in the village of Mazadou Abdou. By Jessica Mony In 2011, droughts across the Sahel plunged millions of families into a food crisis. A year after UNICEF and partners emergency response began, we ask ourselves how can we stop this vulnerability and persistent cycle of suffering? A poor, rural Nigerien village 600 people may hold the answer. Here, despite every familys struggle during the drought, no child suffered malnutrition in 2012. Just three years ago it was rare for a week to go by without a child dying from combinations of malnutrition, diarrhoea and malaria in Mazadou Abdou village. During the frequent droughts, at times this would rise to two or three. No family was spared the pain of loss and mourning. Haouoau and Loli Abdou are just one set of parents that faced this tragedy. Loli holds up three fingers and lists that in 2000, 2002 and then again in 2004 they lost three children to malaria. Looking solemnly at their healthy 8 month baby boy Issiakou, it is clear the scars will likely never heal for this family. Sadly, their situation is not unique in this or any other village across the Sahel. Fortunately, in 2008 a simple UNICEF programme of family practices helped change all of this. The practices are simple and include exclusive eastfeeding for the first six months of life; complementary feeding for children after six months; proper hand-washing techniques; treatment of diarrhoea; knowledge of how to seek medical care; immunisation; using mosquito nets to prevent malaria; promotion of delayed pregnancies and girls education. The results of adhering to these practices for the children of Mazadou Abdou have been significant. Moutari Louali, a community volunteer who is helping to implement the programme explains the impact. Before the programme started, around four to five children would die every month from malaria, diarrhoea and other diseases. Now, during the whole of this year only three children died, and this was because of miscarriages. From the chief through to parents and children themselves, the whole village is determined that no child should die from preventable diseases. Haouaou is clearly proud of the result In this village we didnt have any malnutrition because we take care of our children. I am very happy about how healthy our children are. At the heart of the programme are volunteers like Moutari who, along with two other volunteers selected by the community, ensure that every family implements the practices and monitors progress. Every week the group visit up to five families to run information sessions. Today, Moutari is visiting Hoauoaus household. Starting with an update on the health of their children, Moutari then calls a mother and her child forward to demonstrate a particular practice. Today its the use of mosquito nets and hand washing. Everyone here comes to listen and learn. Haouaou points at two of her daughters who were born before and after the programme started and she learnt about the benefits of exclusive eastfeeding. Look you can see this one is much stronger. Whilst drought, hunger and vulnerability are an ongoing reality for these families, their efforts to implement the programme are the key to ensuring their children not only survive, but are resilient through times of drought and extreme hardship. Issa Iahim the 63 year old chief of Mazadou Abdou describes the precarious situation many families across the Sahel live in. In this village our life is based around farming. The difficulty of this life is that if the rainy season doesnt give a good harvest, life becomes extremely difficult for us. For now the health of their children is safe, but the challenges ahead for the village are immense. A community run cereal bank will help tide them over for a while, but after this the only other option for many families is for husbands and fathers to head to Nigeria to search for work. Haouaou has thirty bowls of millet to feed her family until the harvest a year away. It will only last a month. She holds out the bowl and laughs nervously. What can we do? Whilst Mazadou Abdous families continue to walk a tightrope of vulnerability, their newfound knowledge will keep their children alive and healthy. It is not the whole solution, but it provides the hope of a future for their most precious resource, their children. The Chief is thankful for how far they have come. We are very proud and happy for what we have done here. We thank God, we thank the people who taught us these practices, but he is also conscious of the toll of chronic hunger on the future of this community; If a man is hungry he cannot hear, he cannot learn anything. The impact of the emergency response across the Sahel can be seen in the short term in the lives saved and the malnutrition prevented. For vulnerable families like Haouaous though, building resilience and food security will be key to long term change. This village has demonstrated the success of community driven initiatives to improve childrens health, but more support is needed to ensure communities across the Sahel are able to withstand crises. Haouaou tries not to think about what might happen a year from now; Nobody can forsee the future. Even if we wait and hope for the best, anything can happen at any moment. UK Natcom - for local copies of the files: Y:Key-initiativesIFSahel-Stories-2012Niger

母乳哺育除了惠及婴儿外，母亲亦可得到莫大的益处。纯母乳哺育的母亲在分娩后首6个月，将不大机会再度怀孕、身体復元的速度较快、回復怀孕前体重亦较容易。有证据显示，纯母乳餵哺的母亲更较少患上产后抑郁，将来患上卵巢癌和乳癌的风险也较低。

儘管这些全球研究均指出母乳餵哺的好处，在2012年录得接受纯母乳餵哺的6个月以下儿童只有39%。而过去数十年间，全球母乳餵育率只有极轻微的增长，部分原因可归咎于全球多个大国的母乳餵哺率低，而及普遍缺乏有利环境予母乳餵哺的母亲。

然而，在有支援政策和全面计划的国家里，母乳餵哺率在所有社区中都有明显的增长。

在纯母乳餵哺率仅得28%的中国，最近基于国民对婴儿配方奶粉的庞大需求，导致外国配方奶粉出现短缺恐慌，引起传媒的关注。为了推动这个世上最高人口和低母乳餵哺率的国家，UNICEF和中国疾病预防控制中心妇幼保健中心在5月联合启动了「母爱10平方」运动，透过标示、註册、认证和宣传育婴室，以提高大众对母乳餵哺的支持和认识。

该活动已建立专属网站unicef.cn/10m2，让任何机构均可以登记为员工或顾客而设，符合基本国际标准的育婴室。手机用户也可以透过应用程式找出所有「母爱10平方」育婴室的位置。

On 13 March, Aissatou Soumaiga eastfeeds 8-month-old Amadou Harouna in the hospital in the conflict-affected city of Gao, capital of the north-eastern Gao Region. Amadou is being treated for severe malnutrition and resulting kwashiorkor, which is characterized by oedema and a loss of appetite. In mid-March 2013 in Mali, renewed insecurity in central and northern parts of the country continues to exacerbate existing humanitarian needs. An estimated 270,765 people are displaced, while 176,777 continue to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. Additionally, Mali remains one of eight countries in the Sahel region also including Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, Niger and the northern parts of Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal facing a severe food and nutrition crisis. The emergency is the result of repeated drought-related food shortages, from which people have had insufficient time to recover before being again affected. Conditions have improved since the height of the crisis in early 2012. Still, an estimated 10.3 million people throughout the Sahel remain food insecure. In Mali, the pairing of food shortages with conflict has left children increasingly vulnerable: 210,000 children under age 5 are at risk of severe acute malnutrition, and 450,000 are at risk of moderate acute malnutrition. Limited access to basic services, including water, sanitation and hygiene, is another key concern. Additionally, some 200,000 children from conflict-affected areas are at risk of injury or death due to explosive remnants of war. Despite the reopening of some schools, access to education remains severely constricted. To respond to these and other needs throughout the year, UNICEF, together with multiple humanitarian partners, including other United Nations agencies as well as NGOs, have called for over US$370 million in the 2013 Consolidated Appeal for Mali. (UNICEFs portion of the Appeal is approximately US$84.7 million.) Only 15 per cent of the Appeal has been funded to date.

柬埔寨在纯母乳餵哺率方面取得显着成效，6个月以下婴儿的纯母乳餵哺率从2000年的11.7%，上升至2010年的74%。多哥和贊比亚的纯母乳餵哺率在1990年后期至2000年间也分別增加了10%和20%。

然而，突尼斯的纯母乳餵哺率从2000年的46.5%急剧下降至2010年的6.2%。印尼的纯母乳餵哺率亦正在下降，尼日利亚的餵哺率在多年来也沒有改善，全球纯母乳餵哺率最低的国家分別是索马里，乍得和南非。

以上的例子反映了全球母乳餵哺的领导力不足，因为母乳哺育对儿童生活的重要性仍然被低估。各国需要优先提倡母乳餵哺和兑现承诺，实行针对性的政策和达致更多共识，使全球参与提倡这个拯救生命和重要的习惯。

虽然母乳餵哺是天然的和人类的天赋，不过母乳餵哺需要一个有利的环境让它成为平常事。富经验的医疗人员和社区工作者支持母亲进行母乳餵哺，富文化敏感度的沟通和具保护性的法律和政策，特別是围绕销售母乳代用品及产假方面，使母乳餵哺的母亲获益。

UNICEF提倡孕妇分娩后首6个月进行纯母乳餵哺，直至婴儿两岁或以上，並藉着创意以唤起大众的关注。UNICEF最近在乌拉圭和阿根廷倡议这项运动，由乌拉圭女演员纳塔利娅（Natalia Oreiro）提倡「母乳餵哺是给自己最好的礼物」，以推动在职母亲餵哺母乳为目标。

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