With only 34 per cent of Indian mothers breast feeding their babies within the first one hour of birth, Unicef has launched a major initiative to make community-workers carry this message to women living in the socially disadvantaged parts of the country.
The importance of this initiative cannot be underestimated because over 1.5 million children die in India before their fifth birthday. Global evidence shows that exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months helps brings down the death rate by 22 per cent helping avert deaths related to sepsis, pneumonia and diarrhea.
An initiative launched in 696 villages in Lalitpur in UP helped create mother support groups who interacted closely with pregnant and lactating mothers.
Within a six year period, the number of breastfed children increased from 39 to 82 per cent.
One such support worker, Kalpana Vishwakarma has helped hundreds of babies in Rajghat village get a better start to life. “My biggest challenge was superstition. Here the practice was to feed the child water and later cow’s milk. When I first told mothers about the importance of breast feeding they eyed me with suspicion,” said Ms Vishkarma.
Community mobiliser Shobhna Patel has been working with tribals in remote hamlets in Valsad district in Gujarat.
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Czech woman murdered in Goa, boyfriend arrested
Panaji, Aug. 7: A Czech teenage boy was on Wednesday arrested for killing his girlfriend in a guest house at Baga beach village in Goa, the police said.
19-year-old Paval Neuhasl, was arrested for murdering 24-year-old Narkela Horka, a Czech too, on Tuesday night, deputy superintendent of police N.C. Raikar said.
The murder drama unfolded last night when the Mapusa police found the boyfriend in an unconscious state with minor wounds near Thivim Railway Station, 30 kms away from Baga.
During investigation, he claimed to have been kidnapped by two Indian men, who allegedly barged into the guest house where he stayed with his girlfriend.
Calangute police who took over the case inspected the guest house only to find the girl dead in a pool of blood in the early hours of Wednesday.
Mr Raikar said there were stab injuries on her neck. — PTI