Simple care could save lives of thousands of newborns daily

Of the more than 10,000 newborn babies who die every day in poor countries, more than 7,000 of them could be saved by simple and inexpensive care, according to a recent research report.

The article, published in The Lancet claims that global attention has been focused on dramatic issues, but the fate of newborn has not received the attention it deserves. This aspect of mortality has become a second-tier issue, with the AIDS pandemic and other infectious diseases being in the forefront, it claims.

The research, produced by experts from several countries, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Bank, was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development.

Almost 40 per cent of the annual ten million deaths of children under age 5 occur in the first month of life. That statistic exceeds the number of people who die of AIDS each year; experts consider it “unconscionable”. Two thirds of the estimated four million annual deaths of newborns occur in India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Tanzania, according to the study.

Nearly 3 million of the 4 million babies could be saved by 16 simple interventions such as providing tetanus vaccination, breastfeeding, making conditions sanitary during delivery and using antibiotics when necessary, as well as various basic hospital emergency services.