WESTPORT, CT–(Marketwire – January 14, 2011) – A Pakistan-based study to be published Saturday in the Lancet achieved a significant drop in newborn deaths and could be widely applicable in high-mortality countries, Save the Children and other authors said.
More than 3 million newborns die annually. Well-known lifesaving interventions remain out of reach for most mothers and newborns in developing countries.
The research trial didn’t rely on technology, instead introducing counseling on newborn health practices into Pakistan’s public health system in the rural district of Hala. As a result, newborn mortality and stillbirths there dropped 15-20 percent in two years.
“This study shows, for the first time, how proven newborn health interventions can be integrated effectively into an existing public health system. That means these kind of lifesaving results are sustainable,” said lead author Zulfiqar Bhutta of Aga Khan University.
via Save the Children: New Lancet Study Proves Reducing Newborn Deaths Achievable, Sustainable.
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