According to the information provided this Tuesday (20) by AFP, thebabies born in poor countries, especially of Africa, continue to face risks “hideous” of premature death compared to those born in rich countries, denounced Unicef in a report.
While the health of older children has improved over the last 25 years, “we have not seen similar progress in children under one month of age”, of whom 2.5 million die each year, said the director-general of the United Nations Children’s Fund ( Unicef), Henrietta Fore.
“While we know that most of these deaths could have been prevented, we have clearly abandoned the world’s poorest babies,” he added.
According to data cited in the report, in Japan one baby in every thousand dies in their first 28 days of life, in Pakistan the number reaches one in every 22.
Eight of the 10 countries with the highest risk to babies’ lives belong to sub-Saharan Africa: Central African Republic, one in 24; Somalia, Lesotho, Guinea-Bissau and South Sudan, one in 26; Ivory Coast, one in 27; Mali and Chad, one in every 28.
In these countries, “pregnant women receive less help” as a result of prevailing levels of poverty, prevailing conflicts and the weakness of local institutions, highlights the document.
The countries with the lowest risks are the most advanced in terms of health and education: Japan, Iceland (one in 1,000), Singapore (1 in 909), Finland (1 in 833), Estonia and Slovenia (1 in 769 ), Cyprus (1 in 714), Belarus, Luxembourg, Norway and South Korea (1 in 667).
The income level of a country is just one indicator among others of these disparities, highlights the report.
In Kuwait and the United States, two high-income countries, the neonatal mortality rate is four per thousand, a figure slightly higher than in several countries in the lower middle-income range, such as Sri Lanka and Ukraine, whose neonatal mortality rate is five per thousand.
There are also strong differences within the same country. Babies born into poor families are on average 40% more likely to die before their first month of life than babies born into rich families.
Rwanda Model
The report accompanies the launch of a vast campaign, called “For every child, an opportunity”, which seeks to guarantee “access to affordable and quality healthcare” for mothers and their babies.
More than 80% of deaths can be avoided thanks to “trained midwives, access to drinking water, disinfectant products and good nutrition, as well as maternal breastfeeding from the first hours of life and tactile contact between mother and child”.
The lack of competent health personnel is the main problem in poor countries. According to data from this year, while Norway has 18 doctors, nurses or midwives for every 10,000 children, in Somalia this number is just one.
As health improvements can be expensive, “it is crucial that the money is invested” appropriately, Willibald Zeck, global manager of Unicef’s maternal and neonatal program, told AFP.
The UN agency particularly praised Rwanda, where the neonatal mortality rate fell from 41 to 17 per thousand between 1990 and 2016.
The government of that country played “an active role in implementing a national insurance scheme that benefited the poorest and most vulnerable mothers”, he explained.
“These data demonstrate the importance of political will to invest in the creation of solid health systems”, including in countries where “means are limited”, highlights the report.