90 nations urged to meet newborn survival goals by 2035

MANILA, Philippines - The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have underscored the need for countries to invest in “quality care at birth” to save the lives of some three million women and babies who die unnecessarily around the world.

In a joint statement, WHO and UNICEF said more than 90 countries need to accelerate progress toward meeting the “newborn survival goals” by 2035.”

Of these countries, they said 29 must more than double their current rate of progress.

To guide countries, health ministers from around the world approved a new global action plan during the World Health Assembly in Geneva last May.

The Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP), according to WHO and UNICEF, outlines strategies that could prevent 2.9 million newborn deaths and 2.6 million stillbirths annually.

“ENAP brings together the latest evidence on effective interventions for a clear roadmap to end preventable stillbirths and newborn deaths,” they said.

ENAP gives two specific targets for all countries to achieve by 2035: first, to reduce neonatal mortality rates to 10 or fewer newborn deaths per 1,000 live births, and second, to reduce stillbirth rates to 10 or fewer stillbirths per 1,000 total births. 

The action plan also puts forward “an interim post-2015 goal, calling for a reduction to 12 or fewer newborn deaths and stillbirths by 2030.”

While maternal and child mortality rates have improved dramatically over the last two decades, newborns have missed out on this attention, WHO and UNICEF said. 

Each year globally, 2.9 million newborns (first four weeks) die and there are an additional 2.6 million stillbirths (last three months of pregnancy). Newborn deaths now account for 44 percent of all under-5 deaths worldwide.

“The day of birth is the time of greatest risk of death and disability for babies and their mothers, contributing to around half of the world’s 289,000 maternal deaths,” the two groups added.

Most newborn deaths result from three preventable and treatable conditions: prematurity, complications around birth, and severe infections.

Over 71 percent of newborn deaths could be avoided without intensive care, mainly through quality care around birth and care of small and sick newborns, WHO and UNICEF said. 

“An additional investment of only $1.15 per person per year in 75 high burden countries would prevent three million deaths of women and babies,” they added.