Million babies die within 24 hours, Save the Children says

A MILLION newborn babies a year die within 24 hours, according to a report by charity Save the Children.

A MILLION newborn babies a year die within 24 hours, according to a report by charity Save the Children.

The British-based organisation says 6.6 million children around the world died before their fifth birthday in 2012, mostly from preventable causes.

The number has almost halved from the 12.6 million in 1990, but there remains a “deplorable problem of lack of attention to babies in their first days of life”, the aid organisation said.

In its report, entitled Ending Newborn Deaths, it said one million babies did not survive their first 24 hours of life in 2012.

It said two million babies could be saved each year if preventable newborn mortality was ended.

“Unless we urgently start to tackle deaths among newborn babies, there is a real danger that progress in reducing child deaths could stall,” the report said.

It said the reduction since 1990 had been achieved through immunisation, family planning, better nutrition and treatment of childhood illnesses, as well as improving economies.

Pakistan had the highest rate of first day deaths and stillbirths at 40.7 per 1000 births, followed by Nigeria (32.7), Sierra Leone (30.8), Somalia (29.7), Guinea-Bissau (29.4) and Afghanistan (29.0).

In Pakistan, fewer than half of women had a skilled health worker present at birth.

Save the Children called on world leaders, philanthropists and the private sector to commit to ending preventable newborn deaths.

They want governments to issue declarations on ending preventable newborn mortality, and said they would present their action plan to government ministers.

Save the Children wants them to ensure that by 2025, every birth is attended by trained and equipped health workers, and user fees for maternal and newborn health services are removed.