World Breastfeeding Week

World Breastfeeding Week

WHO / Yoshi Shimizu
© Credits

1 to 7 August is World Breastfeeding Week

Supported by WHO, UNICEF and many Ministries of Health and civil society partners, World Breastfeeding Week is held in the first week of August every year.

Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival and yet currently, fewer than half of infants under 6 months old are exclusively breastfed.

In 2018, a World Health Assembly resolution endorsed World Breastfeeding Week as an important health promotion strategy. With a different theme each year, it aims to promote the enabling environments that help women to breastfeed – including support in the community and the workplace, with adequate protections in government policies and laws - as well as sharing information on breastfeeding benefits and strategies.