India worst in terms of stillbirths and neonatal deaths: United Nations

Cape Town: 60 per cent of the world’s maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths are found in 10 countries and India is worst in this list. This information has been given in a report released by the United Nations. The report also states that India also tops the list of 10 countries that account for 51 per cent of global infant births. The data, published in a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), was released on Tuesday during the ‘International Maternal Newborn Health Conference’ (IMNHC 2023). According to these figures, in 2020-2021, two lakh 90 thousand women died during childbirth, 19 lakh stillborn babies were born and 23 lakh newborns died, that is, a total of 45 lakh deaths occurred globally, out of which India The death toll stood at 7,88,000.

The report said that 17 per cent of the babies born worldwide during this period were born in India and this may also account for the high number of deaths. According to the report, India is followed by Nigeria, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and China in the list of maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths. Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia are the regions worst off in terms of such deaths, but the pace of each country’s effort to meet the global 2030 targets varies.

According to the first-ever joint ‘Each Newborn Action Plan’ (ENAP) and ‘Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality Report’, global progress towards reducing deaths of pregnant women, mothers and infants has been stagnant for eight years due to declining investment in health of Dr. Anshu Banerjee, Director of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health at WHO, said, “Pregnant women and newborns are dying at high rates around the world, which is unacceptable and the COVID pandemic has denied them essential health care. We have created barriers in the direction of providing. “He said,” We have to do things differently to see different results. Investment in primary health care has to be increased because doing so will increase the chances of health and survival for every woman and child.