Tacloban City-The first built human milk bank in the Visayas was inaugurated on February 28, 2019 at the Reproductive Health and Neonatal Center, Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC), Tacloban City.

As part of the UNICEF’s commitment of building back better after Super Typhoon Yolanda, human breastmilk will now be available not only in usual time but also during and after disasters. UNICEF Chief of Health and Nutrition Dr. Wigdan Magdani said that in an area prone to disaster, high incidence of infant mortality is recorded.

With the state of measles outbreak, Department of Health, Assistant Regional Director Dr. Exuperia Sabalberino calls for a multi-sectoral campaign on breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is more than nutrition, it is a good life saving method, ARD Sabalberino added.

Breastmilk is the best food offered to infants with all the nourishment needed in the first six (6) months of life. Accordingly, it is safe, clean, easily-digestible and in most cases the only available ready food from the mother.

The EVRMC Human Milk Bank was already able to provide 20 liters of breastmilk to help babies affected after the onslaught of Tropical Storm Urduja in 2017. With its full operationalization, the EVRMC Human Milk Bank is said to give more children a good head start in life through the benefits of breastmilk in the region and nearby provinces in the Visayas. # NASLabordo