Over 9 lakh newborns die annually in India: Study

New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) Despite a significant increase in
women and child healthcare in India, more than nine lakh
children in the country still die every year before becoming
one-month-old, says a new global report.
The study, conducted by experts at the World Health
Organisation, Save the Children and the London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, is said to be the most
comprehensive estimate to date, covering all 193 WHO member
countries and spanning 20 years.
According to the study, India's neonatal mortality rate
(NMR), or deaths per 1,000 live births, was 49 in 1990 and the
country recored 13,49470 neonatal deaths.
In 2009, the NMR dropped to 34, which worked out to
9,07820 deaths, found the study, conducted by the experts at
the World Health Organisation, Save the Children and the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The study, which was published in the medical journal
PLoS Medicine, found that the number of newborn deaths in the
world declined from 4.6 million in 1990 to 3.3 million in
2009. But, India along with Nigeria, Pakistan, China and Congo
accounted for over half of the total deaths.
Though the worldwide newborn mortality rate dropped by 28
per cent in the 20 years, it lagged progress on maternal
mortality (34 per cent reduction) and mortality of older
children (37 per cent reduction for children between 1 month
and 5 years).
As a result, the share of child deaths that occur in the
newborn period (the first four weeks of life) rose from an
already high 37 per cent to 41 per cent and was likely to
continue growing, the authors said. Study co-author Dr Joy Lawn of Save the Children's Saving
Newborn Lives programme said though global focus on maternal
and child health has increased over the years, it overlooked
newborns, who now account for 41 per cent of child deaths in
the world.
"Newborns are barely on the global health agenda and this
study lays out the tragic results of that neglect. Each year
3.3 million babies still die in the first four weeks of life,
despite the existence of proven, cost-effective interventions
that could save these newborn lives," Dr Lawn said.
The three leading causes of newborn deaths were preterm
delivery, asphyxia and severe infections. But these are highly
preventable with proper care, said the researchers.
"We know that solutions as simple as keeping newborns
warm, clean and properly breastfed can keep them alive, but
many countries are in desperate need of more and better
trained frontline health workers to teach these basic
lifesaving practices," said Thomas Chandy, Save the Children.
"The global health worker crisis is the biggest factor in
the deaths of mothers and children, and particularly the 3.3
million newborns dying needlessly each year. Training more
midwives and more community health workers will allow many
more lives to be saved," he said.