Substance can reduce mortality by up to 13% in children under 5 for preventable causes
The Ministry of Health registered the donation of 245.7 thousand liters of human milk by 193 thousand lactating women in 2024. Donations increased the chances of recovery of 219,300 premature and low -weight babies hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units across the country.
The balance of 2024 was released on May 6, in Belém (PA), during the pre-COP 30-promoted by the Ministry of Health, the Fiocruz Human Milk Banks (RBLH-BR) network, and the PAPS/WHO (Pan American Health Organization).
In the event, which reinforced the importance of human milk as a way of contributing to the achievement of the SDG (objective of sustainable development) 3-Health and Welfare, adopted by the UN (United Nations), the Ministry launched the National Digital “Human Milk Donation: a humanitarian gesture that feeds hope”.
The objective of the agency is to increase the number of donations, raising sensitizing women who breastfeed to become donors. This is because breast milk can save lives. In addition to babies against infections, diarrhea and allergies, it can reduce mortality in up to 13% in children under 5 for preventable causes.
An example of how sensitizations are important is the case of Rio Grande do Sul, which, in only 24 hours, recorded the collection of 768 liters to assist in the feeding of newborns, during the climate emergency caused by floods in the state in 2024.
Brazilian human milk bank is a world reference
“Premature newborns have the opportunity in human milk to strengthen and recover faster”said the general coordinator of health care of children, adolescents and youth, from the Secretariat of Primary Health Care, Sônia Venâncio, who represented the Ministry of Health at the event.
Sonia also highlighted the importance of donations to ensure a sustainable and healthy future for the most vulnerable babies. “Prematurity increases the chances of mortality, so human milk protects these babies. Donation is a commitment to the life and well-being of future generations.”he said.
According to the WHO (World Health Organization), Brazil has the largest and most complex RBLH (Human Milk Banks Network) in the world, which views at COP30, to be held in Belém (PA), in November 2025, an opportunity to reiterate human milk as a sustainable and low -cost food, aligned with sustainable development objectives. Objective health and well-being ODS, for example, ending the preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 by 2030.
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Every breastfeeding woman is a possible donor. To donate, just be healthy and do not take any medicine that interferes with food.
Currently, the Brazilian Network of Human Milk Banks has 237 banks in all states of the country and the Federal District.
Collection can be done at home by any breastfeeding woman, regardless of the age of the child, following the following steps:
- Cover your hair, use mask, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water and avoid talking during milk extraction;
- Use glass lid glass bottle that has been clean and boiled for 15 minutes from the time of boiling;
- Remove the milk into the bottle, close it and write down your name and extraction date and bring to the freezer;
- Bring the bottle to the nearest human milk seat within 10 days after extraction, inside a clean box or thermal bag with ice.
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