On World Breastfeeding Week, countries urged to invest in health systems and support breastfeeding mothers – PAHO/WHO

Washington, DC, August 6, 2025 (PAHO/WHO) – As World Breastfeeding Week It is developed under the issue «Prioritize breastfeeding: Create Sustainable Support Systems», the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF ask governments and health systems throughout the world to invest in the support of breastfeeding to improve health health and development. In the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) echoes this call, highlighting regional efforts to increase breastfeeding rates and protect mothers from commercial pressures.

In a joint statement issued on August 4, 2025, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and UNICEF executive director, Catherine Russell, emphasized that breastfeeding is the first defense of a baby against diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia, acting as her «first vaccine.» However, only 48% of babies under six are breastfed exclusively worldwide, far from the 60% target established by the World Health Assembly by 2030.

The statement points to the gaps in health systems as a key barrier. Only one in five countries trains doctors and nurses in child feeding, leaving many mothers without adequate guide after childbirth. Resource health systems little resources and fragmented often do not provide constant breastfeeding support, despite its proven benefits: every dollar invested in breastfeeding produces US $ 35 in economic yields.

Breastfeed in the Americas: progress and challenges

Based on the data published in 2024, Paho reports that in Latin America and the Caribbean, 52% of newborns are breastfed within the first hour of birth, and 43% of babies under six are breastfed exclusively. However, these rates decrease to 37% in the largest region of the Americas and 27% in North America.

Only 19 of the 35 countries and territories in the region have adopted legal measures to partially or completely or completely implement the International Marketing Code of Milk Menilla, which protects breastfeeding from commercial influences.

To address these challenges, the PAHO is supporting countries through initiatives such as the friendly hospital initiative for babies, which creates support for breastfeeding in medical care centers. The organization also helps monitor compliance with the code and develop national policies to promote optimal baby food, align with WHO and UNICEF global strategy for the feeding of young children and children and Paho’s efforts to prevent childhood obesity.

The WHO and UNICEF statement requires an action to strengthen health systems by:

• guarantee an adequate investment in maternal and equitable and quality newborns, including breastfeeding support services;
• growing national budget assignments for breastfeeding programs;
• Integrate the advice and support of breastfeeding in maternal and child health services, including prenatal, delivery and postnatal care;
• Ensure that all health service providers are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to support breastfeeding, even in emergency and humanitarian environments;
• Strengthen community health systems to provide each new mother with continuous and accessible support of accessible breastfeeding up to two years and beyond; and
• Protect breastfeeding ensuring that the International Marketing Code of Breast Milk Substitutes is applied in all health facilities and systems.

«Strengthening health systems to support breastfeeding is not just an imperative of health, it is a moral and economic imperative,» said WHO and UNICEF leaders, who commit to remain committed to support countries in the construction of resilient systems that do not leave the mother or the child behind.