The rate of breastfeeding in Cameroon is currently set at 40 percent, APA can report Tuesday from the Ministry of Public Health.
By Felix Cyriaque Ebole Bola
Amongst other statistics, barely 30 percent of infants aged 0 to 5 months are exclusively breastfed in the country, whereas this rate should be at least 50 percent up to six months.
These figures are abnormally low, the Cameroon Association of Women Doctors (Acafem) regrets.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), some 40,000 lives could be saved each year in Cameroon if all babies were exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life.
It said breastfeeding also reduces the risk for mothers to develop cancers, including breast and ovarian cancer.
According to the Center for the Development of Good Practices in Health (CDBPS-H), women, for professional, health or even aesthetic reasons, resort more and more to artificial feeding.
FCEB/cat/fss/as/APA