Established since 1992 by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), the World Breastfeeding Week is endorsed by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The objective is to facilitate and strengthen the social mobilization for the importance of the breastfeeding. Celebrated during 1 to 7 of August, already involves more than 120 countries, when the global related initiatives and efforts are considered.
The Virtual Health Library Breastfeeding Brazil (VHL Breastfeeding Brazil) resulted from the need to disseminate, integrate and share relevant information concerning this topic. The VHL Breastfeeding Brazil provides qualified scientific and technical information to its users. It was launched in April 2005 and has already attained an average of six thousand visits per month.
This is a project of collective construction in Brazil, coordinated by the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), trough it's Centro de Informação Científica e Tecnológica (CICT) (Center for Scientific and Technological Information) and supported by the Latin America and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information, BIREME/PAHO/WHO, a specialized Center of Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Americas.
The VHL Breastfeeding Brazil also has the support and recognition of WABA, the most important world entity in the issue. In addition, in Brazil, the VHL portal has the leadership of the library of the Instituto Fernandes Figueira (IFF/FIOCRUZ) and of the Human Milk Bank of IFF, the National Reference Center of the National Network of Human Milk Banks (Rede BLH).
In the whole world, every year, more than 10 million children in the age of less than five years die of diseases that can be prevented and treated. There are several preventive and therapeutic and low cost effective interventions that can help to reduce the number of deaths among children under the age of 5 years. The breastfeeding at least until the baby first six life months is the most important one.
Bringing together the more important scientific studies related to the theme, the VHL Breastfeeding Brazil is an important instrument for the decision making to support the management of human milk banks and for the promotion of the breastfeeding as strategies to reduce infant mortality in the country. According to the Ministry of Health of Brazil, the percentage of children breast-fed until six life months grew in Brazil. But the percentages are still low (16.6% in the Southeast; 35.9% in the Midwest; 20% in the Northeastern Region; 19.5% in the Northern Region and 68.4% in the South - data of 1999). According to the Ministry, the average of exclusive breastfeeding of the Brazilian population in 1999, was 23 days, however, breastfeeding including other food in the baby diet was 9 months and 9 days. The ideal would be an exclusive diet of human milk up to the baby first 6 life months. And the human milk should be in the diet until at least the baby first year.
However, in less than a decade the number of Human Milk Banks jumped, from 10 to 187 units (in February 2006), distributed in all Brazilian States, constituting the National Network of Human Milk Banks (RedeBLH - Rede Nacional de Bancos de Leite Humano).
In 1998, the Ministry of Health of Brazil and FIOCRUZ prepared an action plan for the strengthening of the National Network of Human Milk Banks. One of the goals of this proposal was the development of a cooperative information system, articulated and integrated. The VHL Breastfeeding Brazil is the result of this plan.
The VHL Breastfeeding Brazil provides a complete collection of up-to-date and qualified scientific and technical information for researchers, decision makers and health professionals.