INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated from 1 to 7 August every year
COVID-19 pandemic highlights the fragility of those gains.In many countries, the pandemic has caused significant disruptions in
breastfeeding support services, while increasing the risk of food insecurity and malnutrition.Several countries have reported that producers
of baby foods have compounded these risks by invoking unfounded fears that breastfeeding can transmit COVID-19 and marketing their products
blood donation due to saving the lives of so many premature babies in hospitals whose best nutrition is breast milk, Mohammad-Baqer Hosseini
said.In July 2016, the first breast milk bank was established in Al-Zahra Hospital of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, with the
financial support of the Ministry of Health.Since then, 10 breast milk banks have been set up in the country, two of which are located in
Tehran, and others in Mashhad, Zahedan, Ahvaz, Kermanshah, Shiraz, Kerman, Tabriz, and Yazd are active and one is being launched in
Isfahan.Recalling that breast milk banks are widely active all over the world, Hosseini said that milk banks have been active in European
countries for nearly 100 years.Worldwide, about 600 breast milk banks have been established, with the first established in Austria, he
noted, adding that there are currently 210 breast milk banks in Europe and Brazil alone has 210 milk banks.Human milk is pasteurized so that
there is no risk of transmitting infectious diseases, even in the case of AIDS or any other diseases, he said.
