Cazenga - The Human Milk Bank Network (RBLH) has supported more than 4,000 children, all born at the Lucrécia Paim Maternity Hospital in Luanda, since its creation six years ago, its coordinator, Elisa Gaspar, said on Friday.
The Angolan government opened the first human milk bank (BLH) in 2019, with the aim of reducing malnutrition and infant mortality, with which it was possible to collect more than 345,000 milliliters of human milk, donated by 1,800 women, which allowed the care of 2,220 newborns.
Speaking to ANGOP, Elisa Gaspar, a pediatrician, said the opening of the human milk donation campaign in Cazenga, which aims to increase the bank's stock of this good and raise awareness among more female donors.
According to the pediatrician, the initiative, the first of its kind in the municipality of Cazenga, served to encourage women to donate milk to feed premature or low-birth-weight babies who cannot be breastfed by their own mothers.
She reported that the campaign is open to all women over the age of 18 who are willing to donate their breast milk.
To screen for diseases that can be transmitted through breast milk, the Cazenga Health Department conducted tests for HIV, hepatitis B and others, Elisa Gaspar said.
KAM/ACS/SEC/MRA/AMP
