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Mass Media And Promotion Of The Benefit Of Exclusive Breastfeeding
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One of such campaigns is the exclusive breast-feeding campaign. This
campaign is no longer news to Nigerians especially women. Exclusive
breast-feeding campaign is the leading intervention in the prevention of
child malnutrition which is the major cause of more than half of all
child deaths in developing countries. In an attempt to achieve
successful breast-feeding globally by the year 2000, World Health
Organization
(WHO) and United Nations international children Emergency fund (UNICEF)
launched the baby friendly hospital initiative (BFHI) in 1991. It is a
project through which exclusive breast-feeding is being supported,
promoted and protected.
Exclusive breast-feeding means that no other
drink or food should be given to the infant except breast milk; the
infant should feed frequently and for unrestricted periods. The Baby
Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) recommends that infants be breast
fed for six months and thereafter until twenty-four months alongside
other proper food for the child. This recommendation is because of the
various research publications on the superiority of breast milk compared
to other type of milk for the nourishment of infant, and the offering
of better health benefits to both mother and child. All nutritional
needs for children are provided by the breast milk in the right amount
and duration. This crucial benefit of breast milk prompted the need for
exclusive breast-feeding campaign.
In spite of all the efforts geared
towards achieving the goals of exclusive breast feeding campaign, which
include reducing infant malnutrition and mortality, the project still
does not have 100 percent success. This is owing to a number of factors
which include gap in communication, especially in the rural areas.
Writing on the effective promotion of breast-feeding in the 21st century
(Oruamabo, 2004:15) affirms that “Women resident in the rural areas
pose the greatest problemsâ€.
Exclusive breast-feeding campaign is
communicated through the various mass media in the country. These media
include the radio, television, Newspapers and magazines, banners,
posters, and flyers. Infant welfare clinic sessions at several hospitals
and antenatal clinics are also avenues where information about
exclusive breast-feeding is communicated.
The campaigns often times
are not holistic, in that they are urbanized which removes the rural
people from the picture. (Mboho, 2005:114) noted that communication with
rural people is a complex process, involving a combination of
traditional and modern mass media. Unlike in the urban communities where
the modern mass media are used to disseminate messages of development
communication,
one cannot ignore the traditional means of communication. This is owing
to the lack of the basic infrastructural amenities like electricity and
good road network which often hinder the spread of these modern mass
media.
Media campaigns in Uyo local government area are often
sponsored by government agencies or international organizations that
plan and place these campaigns at the national levels of the media and
through their network channels the campaigns are spread to reach people
all over the federation. Thus they may remain as one of those programmes
or advertisements to people because their contents are not localized,
in that it is not done to suit the people that the campaign is targeted
at.
Again the media campaigns, because very often are sponsored by,
private agencies or as a means of publicizing a particular world
programme, the campaigns do not come in the right volumes to sustain the
process until there is the desired behaviourial change which will bring
about the developmental process.
Another part to consider is the
perception of the women, of the campaigns and the extent to which they
are influenced by the campaigns to stimulate behaviourial change which
will result to the desired development. Do they buy the idea in the
campaign? Does the strategy and type of programme appeal to them and
their media patterns? All of these must be considered for the campaign
to meet the target and get the right results.
Again, it is necessary
to use the most suitable medium for the right target audience in order
to achieve the desired result. The women in Uyo local government area
can appreciate fully the advantages of the use of modern mass media for
the campaigns; however, how effective are these media in communicating
the message of the exclusive breast-feeding campaign especially in the
rural areas in Uyo local government area? The print media i.e. the
newspapers and magazines which are mainly national dailies often carry
these breast-feeding campaigns. However this medium may not be effective
in the communication of these campaigns to these women in Uyo local
government area because of the need for readers to be literate and again
the cost of buying copies which the women especially those in the rural
areas may not readily afford.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]Media campaigns are often used to achieve audience mobilization and participation in the process of development. Often times, however, it fails to achieve the purpose for which it was designed owning to many factors. It is pertinent to ensure that such development communications are properly planned and designed so as to meet the target group and achieve the set objectives. This study examined the media campaigns on exclusive breastfeeding in Uyo local government area while analyzing the percept ... Continue reading---
