Unicef: Breastfeeding is the cheapest and most effective life-saver in history

By Irine Majale

UNICEF is focusing on breastfeeding as the most effective and inexpensive way of saving a child’s life in this year’s World Breastfeeding Week. But with less than half of all children under six months benefitting from exclusive breastfeeding, strong leadership in promoting the practice is essential.

“There is no other single health intervention that has such a high impact for babies and mothers as breastfeeding and which costs so little for governments,” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Geeta Rao Gupta. “Breastfeeding is a baby’s ‘first immunization’ and the most effective and inexpensive life-saver ever.”

Children who are exclusively breastfed are 14 times more likely to survive the first six months of life than non-breastfed children. Breastfeeding also supports a child’s ability to learn and helps prevent obesity and chronic diseases later in life.