PHM-Exch> BETTER BABY CARE KEY TO REDUCING DEATHS, REPORTS WHO

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Vern Weitzel vern.weitzel at gmail.com
crossposted from: "[health-vn discussion group]" health-vn at anu.edu.au



BETTER BABY CARE KEY TO REDUCING DEATHS, REPORTS UN HEALTH AGENCY
New York, May 10 2010 11:05AM
Better care for babies during the first month after they are born is key to
reducing child mortality rates in developing countries, the United Nations
health agency said today, in an update on measures that are essential for
the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

An estimated 40 per cent of deaths of children under the age of five occur
in the first month of life, most in the first week, the UN World Health
Organization (<"http://www.who.int/en/">WHO) <"
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2010/newborns_20100510/en/index.html">said
in a new <"http://www.who.int/whosis/whostat/EN_WHS10_Full.pdf">report.

According to the agency’s World Health Statistics 2010, major causes of
infant deaths include malnutrition and diseases such as malaria, an illness
that can be prevented by ensuring that newborns sleep under
insecticide-treated mosquito nets.

The report – compiled annually and based on more than 100 health indicators
reported by WHO’s 193 Member States – also showed that deaths among children
under the age of five have dropped by 30 per cent from 12.5 million in 1990
to 8.8 million in 2008.

Five years ahead of the 2015 deadline for the achievement of MDGs – eight
targets agreed upon by world leaders – WHO noted that there were some
striking improvements in some health-related goals.

The percentage of underweight children is estimated to have declined from 25
per cent in 1990 to 16 per cent in 2010, HIV/AIDS infections dropped 16 per
cent between 2001 and 2008, and the percentage of the world’s population
with access to safe water increased from 77 per cent to 87 per cent, enough
to reach the MDG target.

The global results, however, mask reveal inequalities between countries and
regions. Some countries have been held back by conflict, poor governance, or
humanitarian and economic crises, the report noted.

“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.

Countries were, however, still lagging behind on measures that would reduce
maternal mortality, the update showed.

“Few developing countries are on track to reach the MDG target for maternal
mortality,” but there is evidence of progress in nations such as Egypt and
China, said Dr. Boerma.

Measurement remains an obstacle, and he called for improved identification
and recording of 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,”
Dr. Boerma noted.

According to the report, nine countries in Africa and 29 outside Africa were
on course to meet the MDG target for reducing malaria, but in 2008 an
estimated 243 million cases of malaria still caused 863 000 deaths, mostly
in children under five years old.

New HIV infections were reduced globally by 16 per cent between 2001 and
2008. In 2008, some 2.7 million people were newly infected with HIV,
according to the report. More than four million people in low- and
middle-income countries were receiving antiretroviral treatments by the end
of 2008, but that left more than five million people untreated, it adds.

Existing cases of tuberculosis (TB) were declining as more people were being
successfully treated. TB mortality among HIV-negative people had dropped
from 1.7 million in 2001 to 1.4 million in 2008, the report noted.
________________

For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://phm.phmovement.org/pipermail/phm-exchange-phmovement.org/attachments/20100511/eab23d13/attachment-0001.html>