In India, where just 55 per cent of babies are exclusively breastfed during 0-6 months and 41 per cent are able to begin breastfeeding within an hour of birth, the total health system cost of not breastfeeding is estimated to be around Rs 732.43 crore, as per a WHO tracking tool.
This cost attributable to not breastfeeding includes the cost of avoidable health care treatment of type 2 diabetes morbidity in mothers i.e. Rs 30.01 crore, cost of avoidable health care treatment of childhood diarrhea i.e. Rs 513.09 crore, cost of avoidable health care treatment of childhood ARI/pneumonia i.e. Rs 189.32 crore, as estimated by the tool, “Cost of Not Breastfeeding Tool .”
A first-of-its-kind tool aims to help policy-makers and advocates quantify the human and economic costs of not breastfeeding including lost life, lost productivity, and increased costs to health systems at country, regional and global levels.
As the World Breastfeeding Week begin from 1st to 7th August 2019, Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI)’s central coordinator Dr Arun Gupta said: At the moment India lacks an official policy and budgeted plan of action on breastfeeding/IYCF.
“Women still struggle for correct information and practical support at health facilities and in communities. “Commercial influence of formula companies on health staff and parents still remains an issue even though a legal framework exists that bans the promotion of baby food up to 2 years. Our policymakers need to take immediate actions to improve the current state of affairs in this area”
This year’s theme is “Empower parents, enable breastfeeding: Now and for the future -Cost of Inadequate Breastfeeding is Too High to be Ignored .”
To ensure optimal child health, survival, nutrition and development the WHO and UNICEF recommend initiating breastfeeding within one hour of birth, exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months and continued breastfeeding for 2 years or beyond along with adequate and appropriate complementary feeding after 6 months of age and skin-to skin contact immediately at birth.
The World Health Assembly has set a target to increase global exclusive breastfeeding rate from 38% in 2012 to 50% in 2025 globally. India has to achieve a 65.7 per cent exclusive breastfeeding rate by 2025 as per the WHO tracking tool.
BOX
*Not breastfeeding results in 100,000 preventable child deaths (mainly due to diarrhea and pneumonia), 34.7 million cases of diarrhea, 2.4 million cases of pneumonia, and 40,382 cases of obesity in India.
*Health impact on mothers is more than 7000 cases of breast cancer, 1700 of ovarian cancer and 87000 of type- 2 diabetes.
*Globally, 595 379 childhood deaths are attributed to not breastfeeding annually. Optimal breastfeeding also has the potential to prevent an additional 98 243 deaths of mothers from cancers and type II diabetes each year.
*The total annual global economic losses are estimated to be between US$257 billion and US$341 billion, or between 0.37% and 0.70% of global gross national income.
