This, of course, assumes you're actually concerned about the issue
Quote of note:
Two-thirds of the estimated 4 million annual deaths of newborns occur in India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and Tanzania, the study found.Most of the deaths are caused by preterm births, infections, breathing problems from a variety of complications, and tetanus, afflictions rarely fatal to newborns in developed countries. The authors said that 16 simple measures -- including widespread tetanus shots, access to antibiotics, breastfeeding education, and sanitary delivery rooms -- could prevent most of the deaths. Also needed were readily accessible basic emergency services, for caesarean sections and blood transfusions, the report said.
Simple changes urged to save newborns
Study says $4b could keep 3 million alive
By Raja Mishra, Globe Staff | March 4, 2005
The lives of 3 million newborn babies in poor nations could be saved annually through simple improvements in birthing procedures and basic healthcare that would cost the world $4.1 billion per year, according to a new study.
The study is the first to place a price, about $2,100 per life saved, on a problem that has been somewhat obscured in the recent rush to tackle global health issues, said public health advocates.
The global community has regarded the deaths of newborns as a second-tier issue behind the AIDS epidemic and other infectious diseases, said researchers and representatives of charities. Seeking to rectify that, a coalition of charities, activist groups, and researchers yesterday released the first broad assessment of the problem, a four-part series of studies published by the Lancet, a British medical journal, and framed as a call-to-arms by its authors.
Lancet editor Richard Horton said the newborn toll was ''10,000 to 11,000 deaths per day, 450 deaths per hour, and seven neonatal deaths per minute, up to three-quarters of which are entirely unnecessary and preventable."
