Home / Health / Fixing Basic Care Cuts Child Deaths
Fixing Basic Care Cuts Child Deaths
24 Mar
Summary
- Neonatal conditions cause over a third of child deaths.
- Pakistan reduced infant mortality by 35% by improving basics.
- Over 80% of under-five deaths occur in South Asia and Africa.
Neonatal conditions are a major contributor to preventable child deaths, representing over a third of fatalities among children under five. These deaths disproportionately affect regions like sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where over 80% of under-five mortality occurs. The article highlights that "miracle" inventions are not needed, but rather a focus on rectifying critical gaps in fundamental care.
Barriers to survival include delays in seeking care, reaching facilities, and receiving timely, adequate treatment. Ensuring that public birth facilities are functional and staffed, with professionals available to administer medicine and provide care, is crucial. Pakistan's experience in Punjab illustrates this effectively, achieving a 35% reduction in infant mortality by prioritizing basic care improvements.
This transformation in Pakistan involved increasing facility deliveries significantly, surpassing even the NHS in volume within three years. Similar improvements have been observed in Sindh, where deliveries at public facilities have more than doubled since 2017. This underscores that consistent delivery of basic, known interventions offers reliable protection for mothers and babies.
