Teaching mothers the value of human milk in children’s devt

TEACHING local women the innate richness of human milk in the mental, physical and emotional development of children was one of the initiatives launched by Unicef in the aftermath of the devastation that Supertyphoon Yolanda brought. The Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) and UN children’s agency, Unicef, recently inaugurated one of the largest human milk banks in the Philippines. The EVRMC is one of two hospitals in the area where human breast milk is stored for contingencies. After Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) devastated the Philippines in November 2013, EVRMC, the only government tertiary training hospital in Region 8, was severely damaged. The typhoon and destruction of health facilities became problematic for a region that already had high levels of malnutrition even before the disaster. Unicef established an office in Tacloban City immediately after the typhoon for two years and included within its response long-term recovery support and to build back better to promote sustainability. This included strengthening the cold chain to protect vaccines, establishing a Youth Hub, constructing the first disasterresilient evacuation center and training of teachers on Education in Emergencies, among others. “Unicef remains fully committed in supporting our partners affected by Yolanda. Five years after the typhoon, we are encouraged to see that Tacloban City and the rest of the region continues to rise, full of hope and promise,” Unicef Philippines Representative Lotta Sylwander said. EVRMC is the second human milk bank Unicef supported, the first one being Zamboanga City Hospital. EVRMC-HMB is unique because it is the hub of relief and rescue efforts in a typhoon-prone region. The EVRMC-Human Milk Bank has the potential to reach babies in need of breast milk in six provinces, seven cities, 136 municipalities and 4,390 barangays. It was already able to provide 20 liters of breast milk to help babies after a landslide in Biliran in 2017 caused by Tropical Storm Urduja.