Health& Fitness Breastfeeding women lack support in the workplace—UNICEF, ILO

clusive and continued breastfeeding is a u niversal but unfulfilled human and labor right. Paid and job-protected maternity leave and adequate maternal and c hild healthcare are essential to the life, health, safety and economic fulfilment of women and their children. However, discrimination based on maternity persists f or many women in the Philippines and across the world,” said I l O P hilippines Country Director Khalid Hassan.

periods should be counted as compensable hours worked and not less than a t otal of 40 minutes for every eight-hour working period, with two to three breastmilk expressions lasting 15 to 30 minutes e ach within a workday.

Editor: Anne Ruth Dela Cruz

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Aljur and Anjoe, 14 and 17 years old respectively, started smoking at the age of 10.

Their exposure to cigarettes at an early age is now starting to take a toll on their bodies.

Now, the both of them say they now experience difficulty in breathing.

Despite this, they are unwilling to stop. In fact, both have shifted to using vapes as an alternative to cigarettes.

Both started vaping last year when vapes became more widely accessible and available.

In the Philippines, a 2019 study by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) found that marriage and childbearing are associated with a significant decline in the female labor force participation. The Covid-19 pandemic also worsened the uneven share o f housework and family care between women and men, with over two million moms around the globe leaving the labor force in 2020.

Breastfeeding is one of the most accessible care policies that can be applied a t the workplace. It is a clear measure to help women transition back to work after giving birth.

“The benefits of breastfeeding for children, mothers, and society are widespread. Breastfeeding protects infants a gainst life-threatening infections, sup -

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes Contributor

BY 2035, for every $1 the Philippines will spend in treating hepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease/nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NAF l D/NASH) and cirrhosis, the country will receive $2.23 in return, according to the Asia Pacific (APAC) l i ver Disease Alliance.

“Despite the large investment needed in treating HCC and other liver-related diseases, we should push for the elimination of hepatitis and other liver diseases,” said William Brown, moderator of the recent webinar on “Eliminating Asia’s Silent Emergency.” The l i ver Alliance’s White Paper was also launched during the forum. Brown added that countries such as Australia and Thailand have also realized the value of investing in treating liver diseases. For her part, APAC l i ver Alliance Director r o berta Sarno said the region should ports healthy brain development in children, and prevents chronic childhood and m aternal illness, reducing health care costs,” said u N ICEF Philippines Deputy r e presentative Behzad Noubary.

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Gender equality

N t he Philippines, the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009 or r epublic Act 10028 mandates all establishments, public or private, whether operating for profit or not, to support breastfeeding in the workplace. r e cognizing the importance of this gender equality and health promoting practice for working women, paid nursing breaks, flexible a rrangements and workplace nursing facilities still remain untapped resources f or the large majority of women.

“Maternity protection to support ex -

For breastfeeding to succeed in the workplace, u N ICEF and I l O e ncourage employers to fulfill workplace provisions of the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009 ( r A 10028), which mandates: l a ctation periods that are in addition to the regular time-off for meals. These

A workplace lactation policy with relevant provisions that is part of the general policy/manual of operations and widely disseminated among employees.

A dedicated lactation/breastfeeding station in the workplace not located within a toilet, where breastfeeding mothers can wash up, breastfeed or express t heir milk in comfort and store their breastmilk afterwards. The Department of l a bor and Employment (DO l E ) Department Order No. 143/2015 provides m odels and lists lactation station equivalences for establishments with peculiar w orkplace circumstances.

Breastfeeding information that is easily accessible (posters, pamphlets, videos and other resources) or through counselling by trained individuals, or peer educators within the workplace or community. Activities must also follow the Milk Code and prohibit persons or companies from promoting, displaying or giving away infant formula and related products.

Good for moms, businesses

Su PPOr T ING b reastfeeding in the workplace is good for mothers, babies and b usinesses. Family-friendly workplace policies benefit employers by: r e ducing employee turnover rates, resulting in cost savings by eliminating the need to hire and train new staff. part of essential national health benefit packages; n Support political commitment to drive consensus on the need to stop the growing burden of liver diseases, and

Improving the corporate image of businesses, showing that they care about t he health and well-being of working women and their families. r e ducing maternity-related absenteeism, which can translate into 30 to 7 0 percent fewer absences, increasing the retention of female workers, as they feel more supported by their employers.

Aljur has become dual user. When he has no money to buy vape juice, he smokes cigarettes. He said he consumes two packs of cigarettes a day. Anjoe has totally stopped smoking since last year and just vapes.

Despite the law that prohibits selling cigarettes to minors, sari-sari stores were not strict in implementing the law. They willingly sell to minors.

Aljur and Anjoe are both students who work at a fish port when classes are out.

On a good day, Aljur earns P1,100 while Anjoe takes home P2,500. Aljur gives P700 to his parents while Anjoe gives P1,500. They rest, they keep for themselves for personal expenses. Part of this is used to buy vape juice.

Their parents have scolded them and told them to stop vaping. But both of them ignored their parents’ advice.

Executive Order 106 prohibits vaping in public places, markets included. But the lax implementation of this order by the local government units makes it easy for vapers to vape in public areas.

One of seven Pinoys use e-cigs act fast because 63 percent of the global deaths due to liver ailments are in the Asia Pacific region.

T H E r E i s an estimated 82 million vape users worldwide as reported by the Global State of Tobacco Harm r e duction (GSTH r ) in 2021, or an increase of 17 percent from the previous year.

The same data showed that as of 2021, some 2.7 million Filipinos belong to this group—or around three percent of the world’s vape users.

A study monitoring youth tobacco use also reveals worrying statistics on the prevalence of use, lax regulations, and wide availability of tobacco products including e-cigarettes.

The results of the 2019 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) revealed that there is a higher prevalence of the use of e-cigarettes than the use of any other tobacco products among Filipino students aged 13 to 15 years.

About 14.1 percent, or one in seven, students aged 13 to 15 said that they are currently using e-cigarettes.

Sarno said the alliance was formed as a response to the increasing number of deaths and illnesses caused by liver diseases.

During the webinar, Sarno introduced to the participants the actions the organization will undertake. These are: n Develop and implement their own comprehensive national liver disease action plans, within an overarching and integrated national policy that tackles hepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease/ nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NAF l D/ NASH) and cirrhosis; n Set clear goals and targets to reduce the liver disease burden; n Place a high priority on the prevention of liver disease through multi-sectoral action; n Develop and implement strategies for early screening, surveillance, and diagnosis of liver diseases, and promote awareness of the need of such strategies with the population and the healthcare workers; n Promote services and programs tailored to the needs of affected populations in different settings, including centralized testing and treatment in urban and periurban settings and decentralized testing and treatment in rural and remote areas; n Provide effective and timely treatment, rehabilitation and ongoing care; n Support research programs to better measure, monitor and report liver disease, its risk factors, and the impact of interventions; n Embrace, support and contribute to effective inter-country, inter-regional and global liver disease networks and partnerships; n Allocate increased financial resources to liver diseases—through external or domestic funding – and include viral hepatitis and HCC prevention, early screening, diagnosis and treatment as