Jakarta Globe, Agence France-Presse, May 7, 2013
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| In this file photograph taken on October 31, 2011, a newborn Indian baby lies inside a private hospital in Kolkata. (AFP Photo/Dibyangshu Sarkar) |
New Delhi.
More than 300,000 babies die within 24 hours of being born in India each year
from infections and other preventable causes, a report said on Tuesday, blaming
a lack of political will and funding for the crisis.
India
accounts for 29 percent of all newborn deaths worldwide, according to the
charity Save the Children which published the findings at the launch of its
annual State of the World’s Mothers report.
The report
on 186 countries showed South Asia — which accounts for 24 percent of the
world’s population — recording 40 percent of the world’s first-day deaths.
Bangladesh
and Pakistan also have large numbers of yearly first-day deaths at 28,000 and
60,000 with chronic malnourishment of mothers one of the major factors for the
fatalities in the region.
“Progress
has been made, but more than 1,000 babies die every day on their first day of
life from preventable causes throughout India, Pakistan and Bangladesh,” said
Mike Novell, the regional director of the charity.
The charity
identified three major causes of newborn deaths — complications during birth,
prematurity and infections — and said access to low-cost, life-saving
interventions could cut down the figures by as much as 75 percent.
“What is
lacking is the political will and funding to deliver these solutions to all the
mothers and babies who need them,” it said.
A decade of
rapid economic growth has allowed India to boost spending on poor and rural
communities but Save the Children said most such programs had not benefited
those most in need.
More than
half of all Indian women give birth without the help of skilled health care
professionals, leading to infections and complications.
In
far-flung areas, doctors and hospitals are rare and villagers often put the
health of their children in the hands of poorly trained substitutes.
But even in
cities such as New Delhi with relatively better healthcare facilities women are
delivering at home, said Sharmila Lal, a Delhi-based gynaecologist.
“Even if
hospitals are near at hand, the women are having babies at home in a highly
unsafe and unhygienic environment just because of lack of awareness,” Lal added.
Lal said
India must invest in creating a pool of paramedical staff trained in childbirth
to take the load off doctors “who often don’t have time or patience to explain
simple life-saving measures to expectant mothers.”
The charity
said the problem of infant mortality could be addressed by closing the equity
gap in a developing country like India where economic benefits have been shared
unequally.
“If all
newborns in India experienced the same survival rates as newborns from the
richest Indian families, nearly 360,000 more babies would survive each year,”
the report said.
Agence France-Presse
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