One million newborns die on the first day of their life around the world. The US is ranked 30th in the State of the World's Mothers report compiled by the Save the Children fund. Den Hewitt, campaigns director with Save the Children, talks about infant mortality in the world and in the US. In terms of risk, we're seeing the greatest challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. In terms of sheer numbers, you still got a number of countries in South Asia. Globally, I think it reminds us that a million children die on the first day of being born and it's a big challenge. We're actually seeing improvements globally on reducing child mortality, but particularly in the newborn phase we're not seeing as fast progress. So there is now 43% of all child mortality happening in that first month of life. We're seeing quite an impact through gender inequality, though malnutrition and the gap of health care between the richest and the poorest in many countries which is increasing. So you can see a country like India where you've got massive economic growth, but the benefits aren’t being shared equally. India has the highest number of newborns dying in the first day of life. When I was looking though the report one thing that really stood out to me was that the U.S. has the highest death rates for newborns in the
rates on the first day. The intervention is needed. And the key thing is scaling those up across the country, making sure that all children and mothers have access to everything they need. Is that really what it is? It's just as simple as building the hospitals, making sure that people access to vaccination? Will that really turn the situation around? You do see great inequality in the report and so you see that between countries, but also within countries, if countries had more health coverage equally across the country, you'd see much more improved rights. And so we're looking for that investment in enduring that proven interventions are there for every mother and child. And that they're delivered by a trained supervised health worker, whether you're in the most remote area or an excluded area, just as much as a city center. Democratic Republic of Congo comes out at bottom of the table. Is there anything that could be done that would turn that situation around? The Democratic Republic of Congo is geographically a vast country. And also it's been ravished by war and corruption for many years. And I think what's needed there is investment in health care and providing nutrition across the whole country. And so there's still a very big challenge there, not just for the government, but also for international donors. It's absolutely crucial that they remain committed to the D.R. Congo and invest in education particularly for girls and health care for all, but health care that reaches all the community. So training a community health worker in every community would have a dramatic improvement in those countries. Source: Chartsbin, Source: The Voice Of Russia
2010 Mothers' Index Rankings, via chartsbin.com
industrialized world. I think this statistic was 11,300 babies dying on the day they're born in the U.S. every year. Is that surprising for you? The report has highlighted that the U.S. ranks 30th which is very high compared to other industrialized countries and countries in Europe. There are a range of indicators within this report and so the U.S. performs quite well on education and economic status, but it's really lagging behind on maternal health and children's well-being. You're seeing this inequality and poverty and exclusion in the U.S. And we're actually seeing that in a number of countries around the world, in a country like Nigeria or India they’re ensuring that there's a health worker within reach of every child. And looking at underlying factors, gender inequality has a major implication on children's wellbeing and the wellbeing of the mother, the educational status of women in that country and also malnutrition. And particularly where the mothers are malnourished we're seeing more premature births and a higher mortality
World Child Development Index, via chartsbin.com
