The Cypriot health ministry has recently launched this year’s Breastfeeding Promotion Month, which runs throughout October, with a call for greater investment in support measures known to work.
The central message of the 2026 global breastfeeding events, and of the month in Cyprus, is “Breastfeeding for a sustainable start to life: strengthening what is effective”. The theme highlights the need to make systematic use of interventions proven to improve breastfeeding outcomes, by monitoring progress, assessing impact and reinforcing effective practices at every level.
According to the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, breastfeeding is one of the most efficient and effective ways of protecting the health of children and mothers. The ministry said the challenge was no longer only knowing what works, but investing enough, applying it consistently and strengthening successful interventions, so that every mother and child has access to timely, high-quality and continuous support.
Breastfeeding is directly linked to children’s nutrition, survival, healthy development and wellbeing, and also helps reduce inequalities, strengthen food security and support sustainable development, the ministry said. Supporting it is not the responsibility of the mother alone, but a collective responsibility of families, health professionals, health services, employers, communities, civil society and the state.
Particular emphasis is placed on a “warm chain of support”, meaning the continuous, coordinated network of care that needs to surround a mother from pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period until her return to work and everyday social life. The chain includes evidence-based counselling, breastfeeding-friendly health services, suitable maternity protection policies, supportive workplaces and social acceptance of a mother’s right to breastfeed freely, whenever and wherever she wishes.
International organisations are calling on countries to strengthen interventions with proven effectiveness, such as specialised counselling, continued implementation and evaluation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, and protection against the inappropriate promotion of breast-milk substitutes.
Under WHO recommendations, immediate and uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact after birth is a basic, evidence-based way of encouraging the early start and continuation of breastfeeding. The practice helps maintain the newborn’s temperature and glucose levels, stabilises breathing and heart rate, and reduces stress as the baby adjusts after birth. Building it into the protocols of all maternity services, and avoiding unjustified separation of mother and baby, is a substantial investment in the quality of perinatal care and in public health, the ministry said.
In Cyprus, promoting, protecting and supporting breastfeeding has long been a public health priority for the ministry. A revised National Breastfeeding Policy, recently approved by the Council of Ministers, is based on the WHO and UNICEF’s Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. The National Breastfeeding Strategy 2024-2027 sets out a framework for coordinated, holistic action involving the relevant services, health professionals, civil society and the National Breastfeeding Committee of Cyprus.
The most recent figures published by the health ministry’s Health Monitoring Unit cover the period up to 2024. According to its summary tables of perinatal indicators for 2015-2024, about 87% of mothers breastfed their babies, with exclusive breastfeeding at about 28%. The ministry said the data, together with continued monitoring of the indicators, showed the need for steady investment in proven interventions and for stronger support both during a mother’s stay in the maternity unit and after she leaves it, in the community.
This year’s month calls on all those involved to turn knowledge into action: to monitor progress, evaluate interventions, invest in what delivers, and make sure breastfeeding support is available, accessible and continuous for all mothers, regardless of where they live, their socioeconomic status or their working environment.
The ministry and the National Breastfeeding Committee have appealed to health professionals, employers, organised groups, local authorities and society more widely to help build a society friendly to babies and breastfeeding. Strengthening breastfeeding support systems is an investment in public health, equality, the resilience of families and the sustainable future of children, they said.