IBFAN AFRICA

IBFAN Africa conducted a two-day WBTi training in South Africa which was well attended by 16 participants, mostly managers representing Nutrition Departments at National and Provincial level with some representatives of Non Governmental Organisations NGOs) including AED and JSI. A representative from the Ministry of Labour also attended.

Ann Behr, Deputy Director of National Department of Ministry of Health, opened the meeting on behalf of The Director, Lynn Moeng. The training was facilitated by, Thulani Maphosa, Chief Program Officer for IBFAN Africa.

Training Objectives

¨ To orient national representatives  in South Africa on the use of the WBTi assessment tool.

¨ To share experiences in monitoring and evaluation from other countries with South Africa.

¨ To draw up a national schedule for completing national assessments and reports.

¨ To look at sources of national data and identify national focal points for the WBTi work.

¨ To sensitize the group to the existence of the Global Breastfeeding Initiation for Child Survival and Women’s Wellbeing.

Presentations were given on the gBICS Global Strategy, its aim and objectives; WBTi, its background, purpose, and experiences of other countries to date. 

This prompted valuable discussions on topics such as the sustainability of Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) and monitoring of programme impact; improving the promotion of infant and young child feeding with specific emphasis on increasing exclusive breastfeeding rates in South Africa through community-based initiatives.

Rates of exclusive breastfeeding in South Africa have drastically reduced over the years due to weak regulatory instruments (Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes not in place). Other contributing factors are the lack of coordination between the South African community health worker program and the country’s nutrition programme as well as the prevalence of mixed messages with regards to Infant Feeding in the context of PMTCT. Infant feeding messages have been further confused due to  the weaknesses of Step 10 of the BFHI in that no community mobilisation or advocacy systems have been put in place. Other challenges to BFHI in South Africa include staff turnover, budget allocation for formulae supply and non-implementation of BFHI in health facilities.

Ann Behr gave an overview of the South African young child feeding situation: Initiation of breastfeeding — 80% (2003,/DHS); exclusive breastfeeding ( 0-3 months) — 12%; exclusive breastfeeding (4-6 months) — 1.5%; Infants never breastfed — 20.1%; infants receiving formula at 10 weeks — 46%.
As indicated, there is no Code of Marketing in place in South Africa. Ms Behr told the participants that in 2003 a draft Code had been drawn up and was submitted to the legal unit. It is intended that the revised Regulations will replace the existing regulations (published in 1984 (R1130) under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act 54 of 1972) that currently regulates foodstuffs for infants and young children. She outlined the provisions of South Africa’s Maternity Protection regulations which are based on the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997:
A pregnant employee is entitled to four consecutive months’ maternity leave;
A pregnant employee or employee nursing her child is not allowed to perform work that is hazardous to her or her child.
In 2007 South Africa also developed and adopted the Infant and Young Child Feeding Policy.
The IBFAN Africa Programme Officer took the participants through the 15 indicators. Thereafter, working in small groups, participants attempted to fill up the assessment form and produce a draft report. This report was used to identify gaps and to formulate recommendations.
Participants were shown how to access information on the WBTi web-site and where to find reports from other countries. This exercise generated a great deal of enthusiasm and participants suggested the possibility of creating their own web-site — the South Africa National Nutrition Trends Initiative (SANNTI). Finally, participants drew up an action plan that will guide them in producing a national report to be posted onto the website