Better care for newborns crucial for achieving MDG 4

A special report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) included in the World Health Statistics 2010 released on 10 May highlights the urgent need to improve newborn care in order to achieve MDG 4.

The report shows that, globally, about 40% of deaths among children under five years occur in the first month of life, and the majority of those in the first week. It also gives a breakdown of the major causes of newborn deaths.

In addition, the report shows that deaths among children under five have dropped by 30% — from 12.5 million in 1990 to 8.8 million in 2008.

With five years remaining to the MDG deadline of 2015, there are striking improvements in some health indicators. For example, the percentage of underweight children is estimated to have declined from 25% in 1990 to 16% in 2010.

However, global results mask inequalities between countries and regions. Some countries have been held back by conflict, poor governance, or humanitarian and economic crises, “but several low-income countries have made substantial progress in reducing child mortality, including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique and Rwanda,” said Ties Boerma, Director of WHO’s Department of Health Statistics and Informatics, at the launch of the report.

“Few developing countries are on track to reach the MDG for maternal mortality. However, there is evidence of some progress in countries such as China and Egypt,” said Dr Boerma. “But measurement is a challenge and investments are needed in building better country systems to accurately identify and record maternal deaths.”

“The challenge is also to assist countries in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South-East Asia to get access to interventions such as insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent malaria, or prevent malnutrition. Undernutrition is the underlying cause of a third of child deaths,” he said.

World Health Statistics is an annual report based on more than 100 health indicators reported by WHO’s 193 Member States.