Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

“1000 Golden Days” Initiative Launched in Egypt


Sat 20 Nov 2021 | 05:48 PM
Pasant Elzaitony

Under the directives of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, the “1000 Golden Days” initiative was launched for the development of the Egyptian family.

Misr El Kheir Foundation (MEK) signed a protocol with the Egyptian Members' Association of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (EMA-RCPCH) to support “Abni Al badri” initiative which coincides with the presidential initiative "A New Day".

The initiative aims at creating social awareness of the importance of the first thousand days of a child’s life. It also provides all aspects of care for the Egyptian children since being foetuses in the mothers' wombs.

[caption id="attachment_290165" align="aligncenter" width="300"]Dr. Afaf El-Gohary Dr. Afaf El-Gohary[/caption]

On her part, Dr. Afaf El-Gohary, head of the MEK foundation's health sector, asserted that the Foundation supports this initiative as it represents one of the rights the Egyptian child must have to enjoy a healthy and dignified life.

El-Gohary stressed the importance of the first 1000 golden days of a child’s life, noting that 85% of a person’s health throughout his life forms in that specific period, and any shortening in this period cannot be compensated after that.

Moreover, she highlighted that taking good care of a child in this period protects him from the risk of many diseases such as obesity, dwarfism, autism, and defects in mental, psychological, and creative abilities. Therefore, it is extremely important to provide advice to every mother so that she can take care of her child in a safe and sound manner.

[caption id="attachment_290167" align="aligncenter" width="543"]Dr. Abla Al Alfy, Dr. Abla Al Alfy,[/caption]

In the same vein, Dr. Abla Al Alfy, founder of EMA-RCPCH, stated that signing the cooperation protocol coincides with World Prematurity Day when babies are born before the 37th week of pregnancy. She added that the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) will light up in the purple color for premature infants.

In addition, Al Alfy pointed out that the foundation held training activities for providing family counseling in more than 11 governorates, adding that training programs were conducted in the governorates of Cairo, Giza, Beheira, Port Said, Fayoum, Aswan, and many more.

Finally, she noted that an agreement is underway with the Ministry of Higher Education to train third- and fourth-year students in college how to give family counseling, so that each student can do that to all members in 20 families he chooses from the parents’ sides or his surroundings.

This step will be part of the students’ social responsibility as they shall submit a follow-up report about the outcomes every six months. Then, they can get a diploma in diploma in social responsibility after graduation.

Contributed by Omnia Ahmed