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Peru Awarded Gold Medals for promoting breastfeeding

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Peru's Health Minister, Oscar Ugarte, was awarded a World Prize during the “World Breastfeeding Week 2008 Olympics” for his work on promoting breastfeeding in Peru, in a competition with other 31 countries.

“We need all the mothers to breastfeed their babies, because children under 2 years old fed with their mother's milk have their probabilities of dying on Acute Respiratory Infections reduced by six times,” he said.

Peru was awarded 36 medals --25 of them gold medals-- due to the strategies developed by the Health's Ministry along with other public and private institutions to promote breastfeeding.

Ugarte informed that the practice of breastfeeding reaches currently 73% of the Peruvian babies, which is a significative increase compared to the 25% registered a few years ago, but the goal is that all the babies and children under the age of 2 can be breastfed, as the best strategy to protect them from malnutrition and illnesses.

The Peruvian regions with the best records in this Breastfeeding Week were Ica, Tacna, Cajamarca, Apurimac and Madre de Dios.

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# Martin says :
27 August, 2009 [ 13:55 ]

Wow! Breastfeeding until the children reach two years of age. I assume these are stay at home mothers [barefoot and pregnant] rather than women who received a marketable education to help support the family. Or is the health ministry providing breast pumps. When will Peruvian society enter the 21st. century?
A proper nutrional diet for both mothers and infants will help reduce
respiratory and other illness.

# Ana says :
30 August, 2009 [ 08:38 ]

I am from Peru so do I do not appreciate your negative comment Martin.  I am now a citizen of the USA and I have been breastfeeding my daughter for almost a year and plan to continue to do so for as long as she wants it.  And by the way I have a graduate degree and I work full time.  So yes, even women from Peru are educated and do whatever is necessary to provide the best for our children. 

# Martin says :
30 August, 2009 [ 18:51 ]

Hola Ana -  I knew my comment would get a reaction. Surprised that only you have reacted to my comment.
Not sure what being a USA citizen has to do with breastfeeding. Great to know that you have a graduate degree and work full time - in Peru? I assume you are using a breast pump or you work for a very enlightened company, if in Peru -  where you can bring your child to work to breast feed during the day.
My comment was with the hope that the "typical" woman from the locations cited in the article were no longer living a life simply devoted to cooking and childbearing. No offence meant.
Congratulations on having a graduate degree. I have more than one, but without money, I could not buy a decent cup of coffee.

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