One million babies die each year within 24 hours of birth from mostly preventable causes, a UN report released on Tuesday said.

One million babies die each year within 24 hours of birth from mostly preventable causes, a UN report released on Tuesday said.

More efforts are needed to reduce newborn death rates worldwide, the report added.

The 2014 progress report, titled Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed, showed that many of the deaths could be easily prevented with simple, cost-effective interventions before, during and immediately after birth.

The report, released by UNICEF, is the second in a series intended to track progress on child survival and hold governments accountable.

Quality healthcare

"The data clearly demonstrate that an infant's chances of survival increase dramatically when their mother has sustained access to quality healthcare during pregnancy and delivery," UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Geeta Rao Gupta said in a statement. "Special efforts must also be made to ensure that the most vulnerable are reached."

Since 1990, the number of under-5 deaths has been cut in half from 12.7 million to 6.3 million. But more remains to be done. The first 28 days of a newborn's life are the most vulnerable, and as it stands now, almost 2.8 million babies die each year during this period.

Failures in the health system during the critical time around delivery are a significant contributing factor to these unnecessary deaths, the report said.

The education level and age of the mother also has a significant bearing on the chances of her baby's survival.

Neonatal mortality rates among mothers with no education are nearly twice as high for those with secondary schooling and above.

About half of all women do not receive the recommended minimum of four antenatal care visits during their pregnancy. Complications during labor are responsible for about a fourth of all neonatal deaths worldwide. In 2012, one-in-three babies - approximately 44 million - entered the world without adequate medical support.

Breast-feeding helps

While evidence shows that breast-feeding the newborn within an hour of birth reduces the risk of neonatal death by 44 percent, less than half of all newborns worldwide receive the benefits of immediate breast-feeding.

The report, however, suggests that in every region except for sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion of under-5 mortality among the poorest sections of society is declining faster than in the richest.

"It is deeply heartening that the equity gap in child survival is continuing to narrow," Rao Gupta said.

"We need to harness this momentum and use it to drive forward programs that focus resources on the poorest and marginalized households - a strategy that has the potential to save the largest number of children's lives."

(China Daily 09/18/2014 page11)