India records highest number of births on 1st Jan'19: UNICEF
More than 3,95,000 babies were expected to have born around the world on New Year's Day, with India estimated to record the highest number of these births at nearly 70,000, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said. As the calendar flipped to 2019, about 395,072 babies were born worldwide. Over half of these births are estimated to take place in eight countries. Details here.
India leads the list, followed by China and Nigeria
The eight countries include India, China, Pakistan, the United States, and Bangladesh. India has reportedly registered 69,944 of these births, followed by China (44,940), Nigeria (25,685), Pakistan (15,112), Indonesia (13,256), US (11,086), The Democratic Republic of Congo (10,053) and Bangladesh (8,428).
The first babies were born in Fiji in the Pacific
As the clock struck midnight, Sydney greeted an estimated 168 babies, followed by 310 in Tokyo, 605 in Beijing, 166 in Madrid, and 317 in New York. The first babies were born in Fiji in the Pacific, and last were in the US. As the world enters a new year, UNICEF called on nations to meet every newborn's right to health and survival.
In 2017, 1mn babies died the day they were born
The agency's Deputy ED, Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, asked the world to join UNICEF in "making a resolution to fulfill every right of every child, starting with right to survive". UNICEF had warned earlier that in several countries many babies won't even be named as they won't make it past their first day, adding in 2017, about 1mn babies died the day they were born.
It's 'a violation of their basic right to survival'
The UNICEF added in 2017, about 2.5mn died in just their first month of life. Most died from preventable causes such as premature birth, complications during delivery, and infections like pneumonia, in what the agency called 'a violation of their basic right to survival'.
2019 marks 30th anniversary of Convention on Rights of Child
"We can save millions of babies if we invest in training and equipping local health workers so that every newborn is born into a safe pair of hands," Gornitza said. The year 2019 also marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, under which, governments committed to save every child by providing good quality health care.
Progress seen in child survival, not so much for newborns
Over the past three decades, the world has seen remarkable progress in child survival, cutting the number of children worldwide who die before their fifth birthday by more than half. But there has been slower progress for newborns. Babies dying in the first month account for 47% of all deaths among children under five. UNICEF's Every Child Alive Campaign is working towards reducing this.
Campaign calls for providing affordable, quality services to mother, newborn
The Campaign calls for immediate investment to deliver affordable, quality healthcare solutions for every mother and newborn. These include a steady supply of clean water and electricity at health facilities, the presence of a skilled health attendant during birth, ample supplies and medicines to treat complications during pregnancy, delivery and birth, and empowering adolescent girls and women to demand better quality of health services.
