Yesterday the UN Dispatch published an article titled "This is the Most Important News in the World Today". I intially thought it was just clickbait, but I was floored when I read further.

The World Health Assembly launched their Every Newborn Action Plan which aims to end preventable newborn deaths by 2035. I didn't know that the newborn, or "neonatal", deaths had been rising even while overall infant death had dropped.  Here are the basics:

1.)Health programs that work on older infants don't work on newborns.

Photo: Pixabay

A newborn is an infant that is younger than 28 days old. 44% of total global infant mortality is due to newborn death. Part of the reason why the proportion is so high is because the global health community has become better at promoting child health. Less than 4% of child health funding even mentions the word "newborn" and the new action plan aims to remedy this oversight.

2.)Newborn death is often accepted as inevitability.

It isn't surprising that in areas where maternal and infant death are common, these tragedies are treated as facts of life. Every Newborn aims to change this attitude in part by collecting more accurate data. A third of children don't receive a birth certificate within their first year of life. The countries with the highest mortality rate have the lowest coverage. Registrations would signify the cultural shift to no longer expecting high infant mortality. 

3.) The called for interventions are inexpensive.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Every Newborn calls for simple interventions such as training nurses about using a bag and mask to resuscitate newborns who aren't breathing, breastfeeding within the first hour, and disinfecting the umbilical cord. None of these programs are expensive. 

4.)Newborn health is important to global health. 

Photo: Pixabay

Newborn health is important to global health. In a speech to the World Health Assembly Melinda Gates put newborn health into context with the acronym RMNCH: Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health. Failing to support any one part of this process negatively effects the others. There is even evidence that maternal and child health is linked to non-communicable diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

5.)3 million lives could be saved. 

3 million lives could be saved. A healthier start to life leads to healthier lives overall. I would certainly call that "The Most Important News in the World Today".

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