Between 1 August and 7 August, the World Health Organization, along with several partners, celebrated World Breastfeeding Week with awareness campaigns, photography contests and other initiatives. Though the global event is in its twenty-third year, in India it received little endorsement or coverage.

This is a pity, since India is committed to helping achieve the United Nations’ Millenium Development Goals (MDG), among which is the reduction of child mortality (number of deaths per 1000 live births in the first five years of life) by two-thirds by 2015, with the year 1990 as the baseline. And promoting breastfeeding could be key in this effort— UNICEF points out that even in cases where the mother is malnourished, with proper support and counseling, breastfeeding can usually continue.

According to WHO, the two diseases that are most responsible for infant mortality in the developing world are diarrhoea and pneumonia, which respectively contribute to 55 and 53 percent of infant deaths within the first year of life. These are inextricably linked to poor breastfeeding practices in the first six months of life . Breast milk gives an infant a steady supply of white blood cells, antibodies, lymphocytes, vitamins and easy-to-digest carbohydrates and fat, all of which help it build resistance from external infection during its most vulnerable initial months.

A recent Lancet report found that an exclusively breastfed baby is 14 times more likely to survive the first year of birth compared to one that is not breastfed at all. And according to WHO , early initiation of breastfeeding, within an hour after birth, could bring infant mortality rates down by 22 percent.