PAKISTAN TOPS NEW BORN DEATH
RATE (the Nation)
Million babies of ‘modern world’ die within 24 hours.
NOTE:
1. A neonatal death is defined as a death during the first 28 days of life (0-27
days).
2. An intrapartum fetal death is defined as any fetus weighing 500 gm or more
who entered labour alive but died while under medical care ...
A million newborns die within 24 hours in the world every year, of which 200,000
in Pakistan, charity Save the Children said in a report by Pakistan Chapter of
“Save the Children”, which urged governments to tackle preventable deaths.
The report claims that Pakistan held highest rate/ratio of stillbirths globally,
and stressed the government to take steps on war-footing to bring down child
mortality rate.
“More than 200,000 children in Pakistan die each year during childbirth or on
its first day of life which is the highest rate globally,”
The report named ‘Ending Newborn Deaths’ reveals that nearly 1-in-25 babies die
during childbirth or on the day of birth.
According to the report, one half of first day deaths and stillbirths around the
world could be prevented if the mothers and babies had free healthcare
facilities and skilled midwife services. The report reveals that the situation
in Pakistan seems to have gone from bad to worse where more than 200,000
children are dying each year as more than half of all women give birth without a
skilled birth attendant present.
“The first moments of a child’s life are the most dangerous, yet too many
mothers give birth without any skilled help,” quote by Ghulam Qadri, Deputy
Country Director for Save the Children in Pakistan.
“It’s criminal that many of these 200,000 deaths annually in Pakistan can be
averted simply by having someone around to make sure the birth takes place
safely and knows what to do in crisis.”
The report which has raised many eyebrows worldwide, declared Pakistan one of
the most dangerous places in the world to be a mother or baby, where
approximately 70,000 babies die on the day of birth..
“The root problem is the lack of skilled health workers with the right equipment
and medical supplies to support mothers, especially in the most rural and remote
areas where they are needed the most. Coverage of skilled midwives is nearly
five times higher among the richest women compared with the poorest,” quote Dr
Qudsia Uzma.
In a bid to save millions of newborn lives, Save the Children has urged the
world leaders to commit in 2014 to a blueprint for change – The five-point
newborn promise which focuses on training and equipping enough skilled health
workers to make sure that no baby is born without proper help, and removing fees
for all pregnancy and birth services.
According to the report “Save the Children’s everyone is going to start campaign
which
will focus on newborns during 2015 and ahead.
Salient features of the campaign would be that newborn promise includes issuance
of a defining and accountable declaration to end all preventable newborn
mortality, saving 2 million newborn lives a year and stopping the 1.2 million
stillbirths during labor. The newborn promise also aims at ensuring that by 2025
every birth is attended by trained and equipped health worker who can deliver
essential newborn health interventions. This can only be achieved if the
government of Pakistan increases the number of frontline health workers,
including CMWs and vaccinators, operating in all four provinces and Fata.
The new promise also stresses upon increasing expenditure on health to at least
US$60 per person, WHO’s minimum level.
It further stresses that to pay for the training, equipping and support of
health workers. The governments should remove user fees for all maternal,
newborn and child health services, including emergency obstetric care.
By : Danish Muhammad Rafique