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Dr Lepani Waqatakirewa Permanent Secretary for Health, Women and Social Welfare National Breastfeeding and Immunisation Week: 1 � 7th August 2008 Nausori Maternity Unit, Rewa Medical Subdivision Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen Ministerial Counsellor to AusAID JICA Rep WHO Rep South Pacific UNICEF Rep South Pacific Invited Guests Ladies and Gentlemen It is a great honour for me to be here to join everyone in celebrating and launching our second combined National Breastfeeding and Immunisation Week for 2008. It is a very important annual event in the calendar of the Ministry of Health, Women and Social Welfare to highlight the importance of protecting children from vaccine-preventable diseases and at the same time reinforcing the importance of exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life At the same time, it is to reflect on the achievements of the National Breastfeeding Committee in that all 21 health facilities of the Ministry are now declared Baby Friendly Hospitals. This is the climax of many years of hard work for the staff of these facilities and also the support of the community. Upon reflecting on the ideals and principles of the Olympics, which in the next few weeks will start in Beijing, China, the theme for this year�s National Breastfeeding and Immunisation Week calls for greater support for mothers in achieving the gold standard of infant feeding and immunisation: breastfeeding exclusively for six months of life, and providing appropriate complementary foods with continued breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond. For immunisation, the gold standard is for parents and health care workers to strive for a fully immunised child by his or her first birthday. As Fiji sends its best athletes to compete at the Beijing Olympics 2008 this month, it is important to remind ourselves that a healthy young athlete can only be realised from a healthy start in life. There is no question that optimal infant and young child feeding are essential for optimal growth and development. There is also no doubt at all that a fully immunised child is essential for protection against vaccine preventable diseases like polio and meningitis � the consequences of which could impair growth and development. I was informed that in today�s launch of Breastfeeding awareness throughout the world, there will be special marathon event - 2008 Global Breastfeeding Wave Event (Mass Breastfeeding) � in which specially designed World Breastfeeding Week 2008 medals (in gold, silver and bronze ) will be awarded to the organisers. May I wish the organisers the success they deserve as they strive for that Gold award. National Breastfeeding and Immunisation Week is also to celebrate the achievements of immunization programs in promoting healthy children and likewise healthy communities. In the next few days throughout the nation�s health facilities, our health staff will be promoting the importance and benefits of early and sustainable breastfeeding practices. They will also be reminding parents and caregivers the benefits of immunisation and the importance of routine childhood immunisation. Immunization has been cited as one of the ten great public health achievements of the past century. We can now protect our children from more vaccine-preventable diseases than ever before. Each year in Fiji, around 19,000 children are born and each one will need to be vaccinated and exclusively breastfed. In doing so, we could then prevent many children from serious illnesses like meningitis, pneumonia, hepatitis, DDiarrhoea and even death. There are now 4 vaccines to protect our children against 9 diseases before the age of one. However, despite the recent gains in infant immunisation coverage, about 20% of our nation�s one-year olds are not fully immunised against infectious diseases to which they are most vulnerable. Hence based on our most recent annual coverage for immunisation at the age of one year, about 3,000 children in Fiji still aren�t adequately protected against vaccine preventable diseases. The hospitalisation, suffering or unfortunately the death of even one child from a vaccine preventable disease is an unnecessary human tragedy. Such annual events as we are highlighting today gives us all the golden opportunity to renew our efforts to ensure that no child will have to needlessly suffer from TB Meningitis, crippling Polio, Hib Meningitis, Hepatitis B infection, Tetanus or Measles. Before I conclude, may I take this opportunity to also thank our loyal development partners in this endeavour to improve and maintain the health and wellbeing of our children in Fiji. I would like to thank AusAID through FHSIP who have been the main sponsor of this event and very supportive of Fiji�s EPI programme, JICA for their excellent support to Fiji�s cold chain system and infrastructure, and our loyal technical and funding partners of WHO and UNICEF. Without all your support, Fiji would have experienced great difficulties in improving the health status of her children. May I wish everyone here today and throughout the country a successful week of activities in supporting breastfeeding and immunisation. Let us all support mothers, parents, and our communities in providing our children the Golden start in life here in Fiji. May I now declare and officially launch National Breastfeeding and Immunisation Week 2008 for Fiji. -End- |
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