The Kogi State Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Kogi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (KSPHCDA), is commemorating World Breastfeeding Week 2025 under the theme: “Prioritise Breastfeeding: Create Sustainable Support Systems.”
The week-long event is scheduled to run from 1st to 7th August.
This annual event aims to promote breastfeeding and raise awareness about the numerous benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for both mothers and their infants.
Activities planned for the celebration include sensitisation programmes, roadshows, and press briefings, all designed to educate the public and champion sustainable support systems for nursing mothers.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony held at the State Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Adams Abdulazeez Adeiza, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Stephen Mohmoh, highlighted the importance of breastfeeding:
“Breastfeeding for both children and mothers offers benefits such as healthy brain development, disease prevention. It is disheartening, as a nutrition champion, to note that despite all the proven health benefits, Kogi State’s breastfeeding rates remain low, with only 29.5% of children exclusively breastfed. We are committed to support breastfeeding and eradicate childhood malnutrition.”
Also speaking, the Executive Director of KSPHCDA, Dr Mu’azu Musa Omeiza, stressed that breastfeeding plays a crucial role in supporting the health and wellbeing of both mother and child.
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“Breast milk provides essential nutrients and protection against childhood illnesses, making it a vital investment for optimal growth and development of infant.”
He further called on individuals, families, communities, and workplaces to cultivate a supportive environment that enables nursing mothers to thrive.
“He urged everyone to support breastfeeding and create healthy atmosphere for nursing mothers. Additionally, he encouraged families, communities, and workplaces to create an environment that makes breastfeeding thrive, thereby, ensuring breastfeeding become a sustainable and integral part of maternal and child health in Kogi State.”
The launch of the 2025 World Breastfeeding Week also featured goodwill messages from notable stakeholders, including the Kogi State Coordinator of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Mr Folayon Idowu, the Public Health Officer of the World Health Organization (representing the State Coordinator Dr Khalid Abubakar), and the President of the Medical Women Association of Nigeria, Dr Yetunde Owa, among other dignitaries.