A total of 114 health workers comprising of nurses, nutrition focal persons, midwives, medical directors, zonal directors, facility in-charges, and health secretaries have been trained by the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN), Kaduna Project Implementation Unit.
The training of healthcare workers is under the Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI), which aims to promote optimal breastfeeding. 19 participants were selected from Makarfi, Lere, Igabi, Chikun, Kauru, and Jaba local government areas of Kaduna State for the training.
Speaking at the end of the training on Sunday, the Project Manager, Dr. Zainab Idris, said that ANRiN intends to revitalize the BFI in the six local government areas. Idris, represented by the project Nutrition Specialist, Hauwa Usman, stated that the baby-friendly initiative is vital in addressing malnutrition and similar diseases in children.
“It is also to facilitate the integration of BFI and Community Infant and Young Child Feeding into existing PHC services towards achieving the approved State Strategic and Operational Plan, 2020 to 2024,” she added.
Through the training, she said that the healthcare workers have been equipped with breastfeeding and lactation management skills.
This is in addition to strengthening the capacity of healthcare facilities to provide maternity and newborn services to support the promotion of optimal breastfeeding, while also reactivating the BFI model in the state healthcare system.
She stressed that breastfeeding remains a “vital practice and a cost-effective” way of improving the lives of children, through strengthening growth and development.
