J. Radhakrishnan, Secretary, Department of Cooperation, Food and Consumer Protection, on Saturday released “Uyirthuli”, an anthem to create awareness about breastfeeding.
Cine musician Sadanandam was present at the launch.
Speaking at the launch of the anthem at the Fifth International Breastfeeding Conference by Nectar Integrated Health Services, Dr. Radhakrishnan said various government agencies should coordinate with one another to promote nutrition for infants. “We have more than 20 banks for mother’s milk. We have to create awareness. We have to guide mothers to utilise the infrastructure created by the government for breastfeeding,” he said.
Educational psychologist Saranya Jaikumar, member, Tamil Nadu Commision for Protection of Child Rights, stressed on the need for initiatives to protect the rights of breastfeeding infants.
The theme of the conference is: “Breastfeeding: The Inevitable Paradigm Shift from Mere Tradition to Medical Necessity,” according to Ramya Ramachandran, founder of Nectar Integrated Health Services Pvt. Ltd. and Chief Organiser of the conference.
Participants at the conference discussed the gradual change in general opinion towards breastfeeding from being the “positive, indispensable tradition of the motherhood of bygone years, to the trivial and inconsequential choice it is today”. It is in response to this faulty narrative that the International Breastfeeding Conference was first conceived in 2018.
The conference was born out of the desire to move the science of breastfeeding out of its current rusty confines to the exalted and rightful position it once held in the concept of motherhood. Participants said breastfeeding needed to be normalised, every individual no matter their age, ability and background, should willingly uphold the basic right of all children born into this world to be held and breastfed. Breastfeeding is not a standalone issue that any one individual faced; it was a medical and social issue. The conference was aimed at establishing breastfeeding as a natural phenomenon that was backed by irrefutable scientific evidence and research.
Eminent speakers and panelists of the conference discussed topics pertaining to their respective fields of expertise, with the common goal of bridging the gap between scientific evidence and practical application.
