India accounts for highest number of neonatal deaths at 696,000 per year in the South-East Asia region followed by Bangladesh and Indonesia (74,000 each), Myanmar (24,000), Nepal (12,000) and Sri lanka (2000). Overall, in the region 8,94,000 newly born succumb to various complications. A neonatal death is defined as a death during the first 28 days of life.
Though there has been a substantial decline in infant and maternal mortality rates in the region, neonatal mortality rate has not mirrored this trend, with 7,400 newborns dying every day in the region comprising of 11 member nations.
Two-thirds of these deaths can be prevented by adopting proven and cost-effective measures, World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday seeking focused efforts by Governments and partners to prevent newborn deaths with a sense of urgency.
“Scaling up interventions with good quality care around the time of childbirth and during the first days after birth can substantially prevent complications and infections in new-borns and pre-mature births which are the main causes of newborn deaths,” Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director for WHO South-East Asia Region, told reporters here on Monday.
She was speaking on the sidelines of an event where global health partners such as WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank, UNAIDS and UNWOMEN signed a pledge to reduce newborn deaths.
The WHO South East Asia Region includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri lanka, Thailand and Timor-leste.
Singh added that the Region made significant progress in reducing deaths among children under the age of five years, as part of efforts under the Millennium Development Goals. The under five deaths dropped by 64 per cent from 118/1000 live births in 1990 to 43/1000 live births in 2015.
However, the reduction in newborn deaths was slower in comparison, at 55 per cent during the same period - i.e. From 53/1000 live births in 1990 to 34/1000 live births in 2015.