Sunday 28 / December / 2025
Muscat: The Ministry of Health today launched the National Guide for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) in primary healthcare institutions.
The launch of this national guide for primary healthcare represents the second phase of the program. It aims to ensure the continuity of breastfeeding support from the hospital to the community and to enhance integration across various healthcare levels, which positively impacts the health indicators of both mothers and children.
This initiative embodies the Ministry of Health's commitment to the continuous development of national programmes concerning maternal and child health. It fosters a healthy environment supportive of breastfeeding, contributing to an improved quality of life and the achievement of sustainable health development goals in the Sultanate of Oman.
Dr. Sami bin Suleiman Al Farsi, Director of the Maternal and Child Health Center at the Ministry of Health, emphasized in his speech that breastfeeding is the cornerstone of a child's health from the first moments of life. He highlighted its role in boosting immunity, supporting healthy growth, and preventing numerous diseases, as well as its positive impact on the mother’s physical and mental health. He noted that primary healthcare institutions serve as the first line of defense in providing awareness, counseling, and continuous support to mothers and families.
He explained that this national guide serves as a unified scientific and practical reference. It helps enhance the efficiency of health cadres, standardizes professional practices, and ensures the provision of breastfeeding support services according to best practices and international standards, achieving continuity of care from pregnancy through childbirth and into the community.
This step is an extension of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, a global initiative launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in 1991 to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding. Oman was among the first countries to adopt this initiative in 1992; at that time, all of its hospitals received international accreditation and maintained that status until 1999.
As part of efforts to revitalize the initiative, the Department of Nutrition implemented a comprehensive national plan to reactivate it in two phases
Phase One (2020–2023) targeted hospitals and included the launch of the initiative's first national policy. It involved field visits to all hospitals in Oman to introduce the initiative and monitor challenges. A central national team received specialized training supported by UNICEF in 2022 to evaluate institutions using an approved methodology, resulting in several hospitals achieving "Baby-Friendly" status.
Phase Two focuses on primary healthcare to ensure community integration.
Coinciding with the release, the Ministry organized an in-person training workshop with approximately 170 healthcare workers. The workshop aimed to explain the clauses of the national guide, discuss anticipated implementation challenges, clarify assessment mechanisms for accreditation according to international standards, and review tools for measuring the knowledge efficiency of health workers in breastfeeding support.
The workshop was organized through cooperation between the Ministry of Health (represented by the Department of Nutrition) and Petroleum Development Oman (PDO). It featured participation from representatives of the WHO and UNICEF, general managers, directors of primary healthcare and hospitals, and members of the national evaluation team for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.
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