I read an article from the WHO about the issues of newborn deaths. (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2011/newborn_deaths_20110830/en/index.html)
Newborn deaths decreased from 4.6 million in 1990 to 3.3 million in 2009 due to more investment into health care for women and children. However, the progess is too slow and developing countries are being left further behind. 99% of newborn deaths occurs from the developing countries, and it tells us that where babies are born influences their chances of survival. I personally think, even though there are gaps between develping countries and developed countries, where babies are born should not influence their chance of survival because it is important to give them at least a same chance to survive when they are born. From the data above, the number of newborn death decreased dramatically from 1990 to 2009 and it tells us that there are proven, cost-effective interventions to preven the leading causes of newborn death.
Everyone should have the same chance of survival regardless of where they are, not just babies/kids. I agree however that decreasing newborn deaths would be a large step in the right direction. Although there are rather cheap, effective procedures in developed countries, implementing those in developing countries is very tough since there are many areas that need the resources. So while it is important to prevent newborn deaths, it would be foolish to ignore all the other sections of healthcare that can be built up along side of it. Another thing to consider is nutrition. Being born healthy is a great start, but it is pretty meaningless if you're starving before you're fully grown, as that can lead to many complications as well.
ReplyDeletePrenatal and neonatal care are definitely huge areas that the world needs to invest in. However, it isn't entirely possible to have an infallible care system for women and children if the healthcare systems around the world still have crippling faults. The need for health care reform does vary area by area and it takes a large amount of effort in order to see which areas need help in which area. A large issue with any sort of reform in international health is that every places has different problems and different needs. While there are many cost effective interventions available, it will take a great amount of time for everyone to get a hold of such things. It's great that we're moving forward, but to keep from plateauing, we need to assess what the developing countries need on an individual basis.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in addition to just healthcare, education is necessary in developing countries. By not educating them about the dangers of bearing a child and the possibilities to avoid pregnancy, we're putting women and children at risk.