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'Appropriate awareness is essential'

Md Humayun Kabir, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Planning, talks to The Daily Star
XCLUSIVE breast feeding practice up to the age of sue months is very much essential for a child's growth, the govern-
ment has taken a number of initiatives to promote the practice across the country, said Health Secretary Md. Humayun Kabir.
The recent study shows that 64 percent new born children across the country are provided with exclusive breast feeding, he said.
“We are working to make mothers and other family member aware so that all the children can get exclusive breast feeding up to the age of six months," he said.
The government is operating National Nutrition Services (NNS) programme across the country. Under this programme it is trying to make the practice more popular.
"We also provide awareness materials through our field level health workers," said Humayun.
Talking about maternal anemia, he termed it a severe problem as an anemic woman gives birth to an anemic child, he said.
"As the main reason of anemia is malnutrition and iron deficiency,
we should lay emphasis on reducing the rate of malnutrition. We are trying to address the issue through our NNS programme," said the health secretary.
The government is providing Iron Folic Acid (IFA) tablets through local level healthcare centres to address the problem, he said.
"But those women, who are not aware of the necessity of IFA tablets or remain out of our network, cannot receive the tablets. But we want to cover all the women," he said.
About complementary feeding, he said this issue is getting priority in the National Nutrition Service.
"We are disseminating suggestions and guidelines of complementary feeding to the people through our Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) programme at different gov-
eminent hospitals at district level," he said.
Appropriate IYCF practice is a key area to improve better child survival, growth and development, he said.
About handwashing practice with soap at different key moments in a day, he said the practice can be improved though behaviour change.
"I think almost all the families, even the extreme poor families, can afford a soap whether it is costly or less-costly. But the practice completely depends on behaviour change," he said.
However, Humayun Kabir admitted that currently there is no effective mass awareness campaign to promote the hand washing practice in Bangladesh.
"But we are trying to disseminate message through different health related programmes and health education," he said.
He also stressed the need for collaboration between the government's agencies and NGOs to improve the country's overall health