Context:

• An estimated 30 million newborns require specialised care in hospital every year without which many either die or develop preventable health conditions and disabilities that affect them for life, according to a recent study by a global coalition that includes UNICEF and WHO.

About the Report:

• The report urges countries to invest in healthcare to prevent neonatal deaths among the most vulnerable newborns — the small and the sick.
• It points out that nearly 2.5 million newborns died during the first 28 days of life in 2017, of which approximately 80% had low birth weight and more than 65% were born prematurely.
• An additional 1.5 million small and sick newborns survive each year, with a long-term disability, including cerebral palsy and cognitive delays.
• According to an earlier study by UNICEF, India witnesses 25.4 newborn deaths per 1,000 births and .64 million annually.
• The Sustainable Development Goal for neonatal deaths requires all countries to bring down the figure to 12 deaths or less per 1,000 births by 2030.
• The study, ‘Survive and thrive: Transforming care for every small and sick newborn,’ was released earlier this month.
• It underlines that universal access to quality care could prevent 1.7 million neonatal deaths, or 68% of the deaths that will otherwise occur in 2030.
• Low and middle income countries will be able to avert two out of three neonatal deaths by 2030 if they increase investment by $0.20 per capita.

Source:TH