​Mothers have been encouraged to exclusively breastfeed for at least six months for optimum health and wellbeing of their children and themselves. 
The call is made as the global community observed World Breastfeeding Week from 1 – 7 August 2024, with the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) advocating and promoting exclusive breastfeeding and further urging sectors of society to provide the necessary support to breastfeeding mothers by ensuring that workplaces, religious spaces etc are more friendly for them.
South Africa is currently experiencing low exclusive breastfeeding rates, furthermore, the 2023/2024 District Health Information System data shows that exclusive breastfeeding in Gauteng is currently at 42.7% at 14 weeks of infancy, dropping drastically to 7.4% at six months. This contributes to undernutrition with Gauteng reporting fatality rate of 6.4% for severe acute malnutrition in 2023/2024. 
"Breastfeeding offers unmatched health benefits for mothers and their children. As the baby develops, a mother's breastmilk provides the perfect nutrition tailored to the baby's needs, boosting immunity and reducing the risk of infections. Infants who are breastfed exclusively for the first six months of life are less likely to suffer from common illnesses such as diarrhea and pneumonia," said MEC for Health and Wellness Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko.
The MEC pointed out that in response to this year's theme: "Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All," the GDoH is implementing several initiatives aimed at promoting, protecting and supporting breastfeeding such as providing comprehensive services to support mothers in exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continuing up to two years and beyond. 
"All public hospitals in the province are implementing the Mother Baby Friendly Initiative (MBFI) and Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) which are initiatives that focuses on improving the care and outcomes for mothers and their newborn babies. Furthermore, the MBFI outlines a set of 10 steps that hospitals and maternity centers can implement to become "baby-friendly" and promote breastfeeding," said MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko. 
Through the KMC method, healthcare workers at public hospitals ensures that low birthweight and preterm infants have access to exclusive breastfeeding or provision of the mother's breast milk. This method has proven effective in promoting breastfeeding, reducing the risk of infections and improving long-term growth and development outcomes.