Role of Health Care Providers in Encouraging Formula Feeding in Mosul City.

Unacceptable advertisements and deceptive promotion of formula feeding undermine breastfeeding and threaten infant and maternal health worldwide. The purpose of this study was to estimate the role of healthcare providers and other sources in promoting the use of formula feeding among attendants at healthcare facilities in Mosul, Iraq. This one-year cross-sectional study was conducted at three healthcare facilities in Mosul, Iraq. Mothers of formula-fed infants under the age of one year were surveyed with a prepared questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Of the 400 women who participated, 73% stated that healthcare professionals encouraged the use of formula feeding without a convenient reason, of which more than 80% were pediatricians and nursery nurses. Only 27% percent of the women chose to formula-feed their infants based on other factors. An extensive analysis of this attitude is warranted.

Benefit-risk analysis of maintaining essential Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (RMNCH) services against risk of COVID-19 infection.

With the COVID-19 pandemic spreading across the world, its disruptive effect on the provision and utilization of non- COVID related health services have become well-documented. As countries developed mitigation strategies to help continue the delivery of essential health services through the pandemic, they needed to carefully weigh the benefits and risks of pursuing these strategies. In an attempt to assist countries in their mitigation efforts, a Benefit-Risk model was designed to provide guidance on how to compare the health benefits of sustained essential reproductive, maternal, newborn and child (RMNCH) services against the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infections incurred by the countries' populations when accessing these services. This article describes how two existing models were combined to create this model, the field-testing process carried out from November 2020 through March 2021 in six countries and the findings. The overall Benefit-Risk Ratio in the 6 countries analyzed was found to be between 13.7 and 79.2, which means that for every 13.7 to 79.2 lives gained due to increased RMNCH service coverage, there was one loss of a life related to COVID-19. In all cases and for all services, the benefit of maintaining essential health services far exceeded the risks associated with additional COVID-19 infections and deaths. This modelling process illustrated how essential health services can continue to operate during a pandemic and how mitigation measures can reduce COVID-19 infections and restore or increase coverage of essential health services. Overall, this Benefit-Risk analysis underscored the importance and value of maintaining coverage of essential health services even during public health emergencies, including the recent COVID-19 pandemic.