The Ministry of Health (MOH) continues activating the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI). Recently, the Nutrition General Department, represented by the Breastfeeding Encouragement Program, has organized a training course entitled "Training of Central Evaluator on Baby-Friendly Initiative" for health practitioners across the Kingdom's regions and provinces. The course was held in Riyadh with the participation of 19 trainees (men and women).
The course aims at qualifying trainees and providing them with the basic skills to evaluate the health institutions on the baby-friendly initiative standards according to the standards of WHO and UNICEF. It also aims to create a supportive environment in health institutions, to train relative staff on the skills of supporting mothers and to encourage them to breastfeed.
The training program included lectures, workshops, and a field visit to Imam Abdulrahman Al-Faisal Hospital. After completing the training program, the trainees will reevaluate the health institutions, which have earned the baby friend title and other institutions prepared for final evaluation, under the supervision of the national coordinator of the breastfeeding promotion program.
The course was presented by a number of specialists and experts from the Kingdom and abroad, WHO experts in the field of infants and young children feeding, baby-friendly initiative and breastfeeding encouragement program in Riyadh.
It is noteworthy that the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) was launched by WHO and UNICEF in 1991 as a part of the global efforts to protect and support breastfeeding. The baby-friendly title was earned by 64 MOH and private hospitals and healthcare centers across the Kingdom, after implementing the WHO and UNICEF standards.
