UNB, Dhaka :
Under-five mortality rate in Bangladesh is 32 per 1000 live births, according to new mortality estimates released by Unicef, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Division and the World Bank Group on Thursday.
It has significantly reduced from 532,000 deaths in 1990 to 100,000 in 2017. Among them, little over half are newborns, who die in the first 28 days of their live, according to a report UNB received from New York. The government has taken multiple initiatives to address the gaps in newborn care, such as launching National Newborn Campaign to promote affordable interventions at community and household level for essential newborn care for all newborns.
In early September 2018, the government launched the National Newborn Health Programme that brings focus on the critical interventions to be scaled up in all 64 districts of the country. To save the lives of the sick and low-birth weight babies, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) is partnering with Unicef and partners to establish Special Newborn Care Units (SCANUs) in Bangladesh. The SCANUs provide
specialised care for the sick and low-birth weight babies who are most vulnerable and bear the highest mortality risk.
An estimated 6.3 million under-15 children died in 2017 or 1 every 5 seconds, mostly of preventable causes, according to the new mortality estimates. The vast majority of these deaths – 5.4 million – occur in the first five years of life, with newborns accounting for around half of the deaths. “Without urgent action, 56 million children under five will die from now until 2030 – half of them newborns,” said Laurence Chandy, Unicef Director of Data, Research and Policy.
“We have made remarkable progress to save children since 1990, but millions are still dying because of who they are and where they are born. With simple solutions like medicines, clean water, electricity and vaccines, we can change that reality for every child.” Globally, in 2017, half of all deaths under five years of age took place in sub-Saharan Africa, and another 30 percent in Southern Asia.
In sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 13 children died before their fifth birthday. In high-income countries, that number was 1 in 185. “Millions of babies and children should not still be dying every year from lack of access to water, sanitation, proper nutrition or basic health services,” said Dr Princess Nono Simelela, Assistant Director-General for Family, Women and Children’s Health at WHO.
“We must prioritise providing universal access to quality health services for every child, particularly around the time of birth and through the early years, to give them the best possible chance to survive and thrive.” Most under -5 children die due to preventable or treatable causes such as complications during birth, pneumonia, diarrhoea, neonatal sepsis and malaria.
Under-five mortality rate in Bangladesh is 32 per 1000 live births, according to new mortality estimates released by Unicef, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Division and the World Bank Group on Thursday.
It has significantly reduced from 532,000 deaths in 1990 to 100,000 in 2017. Among them, little over half are newborns, who die in the first 28 days of their live, according to a report UNB received from New York. The government has taken multiple initiatives to address the gaps in newborn care, such as launching National Newborn Campaign to promote affordable interventions at community and household level for essential newborn care for all newborns.
In early September 2018, the government launched the National Newborn Health Programme that brings focus on the critical interventions to be scaled up in all 64 districts of the country. To save the lives of the sick and low-birth weight babies, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) is partnering with Unicef and partners to establish Special Newborn Care Units (SCANUs) in Bangladesh. The SCANUs provide
specialised care for the sick and low-birth weight babies who are most vulnerable and bear the highest mortality risk.
An estimated 6.3 million under-15 children died in 2017 or 1 every 5 seconds, mostly of preventable causes, according to the new mortality estimates. The vast majority of these deaths – 5.4 million – occur in the first five years of life, with newborns accounting for around half of the deaths. “Without urgent action, 56 million children under five will die from now until 2030 – half of them newborns,” said Laurence Chandy, Unicef Director of Data, Research and Policy.
“We have made remarkable progress to save children since 1990, but millions are still dying because of who they are and where they are born. With simple solutions like medicines, clean water, electricity and vaccines, we can change that reality for every child.” Globally, in 2017, half of all deaths under five years of age took place in sub-Saharan Africa, and another 30 percent in Southern Asia.
In sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 13 children died before their fifth birthday. In high-income countries, that number was 1 in 185. “Millions of babies and children should not still be dying every year from lack of access to water, sanitation, proper nutrition or basic health services,” said Dr Princess Nono Simelela, Assistant Director-General for Family, Women and Children’s Health at WHO.
“We must prioritise providing universal access to quality health services for every child, particularly around the time of birth and through the early years, to give them the best possible chance to survive and thrive.” Most under -5 children die due to preventable or treatable causes such as complications during birth, pneumonia, diarrhoea, neonatal sepsis and malaria.
