New Delhi (NVI): The 2020 New Year’s Day today will mark the birth of an estimated 67,385 babies in India, according to the UNICEF.
The number will account for 17 per cent of the estimated 392,078 babies expected to be born globally on the New Year’s Day, the global body said.
Each January, UNICEF celebrates babies born on New Year’s Day, an auspicious day for child birth around the world.
However, for millions of newborns around the world, the day of their birth is far less auspicious, it said.
In 2018, 2.5 million newborns died in just their first month of life; about a third of them on the first day of life, the UNICEF said.
Among those children, most died from preventable causes such as premature birth, complications during delivery and infections like sepsis.
In addition, more than 2.5 million babies are born dead each year, according to the UNICEF.
Over the past three decades, the world has seen remarkable progress in child survival, cutting the number of children worldwide who die before their fifth birthday by more than half.
But there has been slower progress for newborns. Babies dying in the first month accounted for 47 per cent of all deaths among children under five in 2018, up from 40 per cent in 1990.
UNICEF’s Every Child Alive campaign calls for immediate investment in health workers with the right training, who are equipped with the right medicines to ensure every mother and newborn is cared for by a safe pair of hands to prevent and treat complications during pregnancy, delivery and birth.
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said the beginning of a new year and a new decade is “an opportunity to reflect on our hopes and aspirations not only for our future, but the future of those who will come after us.”
Fore said, “As the calendar flips each January, we are reminded of all the possibilities and potential of each child embarking on her or his life’s journey—if they are just given that chance.”
Too many mothers and newborns are not being cared for by a trained and equipped midwife or nurse, and the results are devastating, she added.
“We can ensure that millions of babies survive their first day and live into this decade and beyond if every one of them is born into a safe pair of hands,” she further added.
UNICEF Representative in India Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque has said many of the newborns do not survive a year or even a day due to health complications.
“This New Year Day, let’s all make a resolution to fulfil every right of every girl and boy, starting with the right to survive,” she said.
“While India has improved its infant mortality rate significantly over the last few years,” she said.
Dr Haque indicated that reducing the rate of neonatal mortality remains a challenge.
“Majority of newborn deaths can be averted by strengthening primary healthcare and implementing low cost high impact interventions including early and exclusive breastfeeding; immediate skin-to-skin contact between the mother and the newborn baby; medicines and essential equipment; and access to clean, well-equipped health facilities staffed by skilled health workers,” she added.
“We can save millions of babies if we invest in primary healthcare systems, training, equipping, and empowering local health workers to provide equitable, quality, and respectful care to every mother and newborn, especially during labour and delivery and immediately thereafter,” Dr. Haque added.
