‘Six Months Build a Lifetime’: Health Ministry, USAID launch breastfeeding campaign

AMMAN — In collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Community Health and Nutrition Project implemented by FHI 360 and the Royal Health Awareness Society, a national campaign to improve maternal, infant and young child nutrition and postpartum family planning in Jordan was launched on Tuesday. 

Deputising for Health Minister Firas Al Hawari, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Health for Primary Health Care and Epidemiology, Raed Al Shboul, attended the launch event at Sports City in Amman, according to a Health Ministry statement.

Under the slogan “Six Months Build a Lifetime,” the campaign aims to increase awareness, foster positive attitudes and encourage the adoption of breastfeeding practices. 

Representatives from national and international NGOs, local partners and community-based organisations also attended the event.

This five-week campaign will reach pregnant women and mothers of infants, as well as husbands and grandparents, as they play a vital role in supporting women who are breastfeeding. 

During the duration of the campaign, ads will be aired on local TV and radio stations, posted on social media platforms and around outdoor and indoor locations.

In his speech during the launch event, Shboul said: “Within its strategy for the years 2023-2025 that was launched three months ago, the Ministry of Health incorporated a special component to improve the level of primary healthcare and preventive services. The component included many projects related to women and child health.”

“Among the most prominent programmes related to woman and child health; programmes that take the necessary measures to lower maternal mortality rates, breast and cervical cancer screening programmes, smoking cessation clinics for the population in general and women in specific because of its importance in preserving woman and child health, and woman-friendly health centres,” he added.

“Within the scope related to women and child health, comes the focus on breastfeeding, which is considered among the most important health and nutrition practices that save lives and help in improving cognitive abilities of infants, and increases their immunity, lowers the risk of malnutrition in the early stage of their lives and obesity, diabetes and allergies later in their lives. Breastfeeding also contributes to lowering the risk of breast and ovarian cancers among pre-menopausal women,” Shboul said.

He praised the efforts of the USAID-funded Community Health and Nutrition Project in regard to designing a comprehensive lactation counsellors certification programme, and their efforts in preparing and launching this campaign.

USAID’s Population and Family Health Office Director, Bethany Haberer, said: “This campaign, the first of its kind in Jordan, seeks to elevate awareness of the benefits of six months of exclusive breastfeeding not only among mothers, but fathers, grandparents, healthcare workers, and all who form a new parent’s support system after welcoming a new child.” 

She continued: “By increasing awareness, the campaign will encourage friends and families to support new parents to make the best decision by choosing exclusive breastfeeding.”

The campaign is being implemented in response to the growing need for better maternal and child health outcomes in Jordan. While two in three children are breastfed within the first hour of birth, the average duration of exclusive breastfeeding is less than one month, and only one in four infants under the age of six months are exclusively breastfed. 

According to the Jordan Population and Family Health Survey 2017-2018, only 15 per cent of children continue breastfeeding until two years of age, highlighting the need for urgent action and improvement.