World Breastfeeding Week in RussiaLast year, the World Breastfeeding Week was timed to coincide with the Summer Olympics in China, and its theme also echoed the spirit of the Olympic Games: Mother Support: Going for the Gold, while the event itself was conducted in the format of an actual competition. The results of the World Breasfeeding Week – 2008 have been summarized, with Russia being among the first five leading countries and winning 5 medals, with Peru, USA and India earning the first three places. 120 countries participated in this annual event initiated for the 17th time by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), a non-governmental organization cooperating with WHO and UNICEF. The World Breastfeeding Week has not yet become a large-scale action in Russia, but the number of participating cities keeps growing each year. The activities arranged within the framework of the World Breastfeeding Week are becoming increasingly more diverse and appealing to the public. In 2008, the Breastfeeding Week was held in several Russian regions and populated areas, including Krasnoyarks, Stupino and Zelenograd. On November 10-16, 2008, the 5th jubilee Breastfeeding Week initiated and organized by the Krasnoyarsk City Centre for Promotion of Breastfeeding was held in the City of Krasnoyarsk. The events arranged during the Breasfeeding Week in Krasnoyarsk were targeted both at experts, researchers and doctors and the city residents. They included a research/training conference, master classes, schools of pediatricians and seminars to advance the “Baby-Friendly Hospital” Initiative. The “hot line” was established and put into operation. Experts’ presentations on breastfeeding-related issues were widely covered in mass media. Moreover, in order to draw the attention to the crucial importance of breastfeeding for babies’ survival, an unusual event was organized – a simultaneous breastfeeding session with the participation of 300 young nursing mothers residing in Krasnoyarsk. The above events and other activities carried out by the Krasnoyarsk City Centre for Promotion of Breastfeeding were instrumental in producing a change in the attitude of medical workers and the public towards breastfeeding and raising their awareness of up-to-date successful breastfeeding practices. Since the inception of the Centre, the breastfeeding rate in the city has increased more than twofold (from 30% in 2002 up to 71% in 2007). On November 24-30, 2008, the Breastfeeding Week was also held in Zelenograd (Moscow). It was initiated by the Family Support Centre “Yelena”, a non-governmental organization. During the Week, all sorts events were organized, including consultations, discussions, seminars and lectures on breastfeeding-related issues, an exhibition of children’s drawings, etc. The Breastfeeding Week in Stupino, Moscow region, was held on November 20-27, 2008. It was organized by the NGO “The League of Moscow Region Mothers”, which is intensively involved in the activities to promote breastfeeding and advocate its values. A simultaneous breastfeeding session was one of the Week’s most remarkable events.
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