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Neonatal and pediatric healthcare worldwide: A report from UNICEF
1Press Office UNICEF Italian Nat Com, via Palestro 68, 00185 Roma, Italy.
Insights
Child mortality has significantly decreased, yet preventable diseases like pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria remain major threats, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Innovations in laboratory medicine are crucial for early diagnosis and treatment of maternal and child deaths.
Area of Science:
- Global child health
- Preventable disease impact
- Maternal and neonatal mortality trends
Background:
- Child mortality has declined by 48% since 1990, with 6.6 million deaths in 2013.
- Half of under-five deaths occur in India, Nigeria, DRC, Pakistan, and China.
- Sub-Saharan Africa will be home to 40% of global births and 37% of under-fives by 2050.
Purpose of the Study:
- Highlight the persistent threat of preventable diseases (pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria) causing a third of under-five deaths.
- Address the limited progress in reducing neonatal and maternal mortality.
- Emphasize the need for research and clinical translation in maternal and child health.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of UNICEF child mortality data (1990-2013).
- Identification of key risk factors: rural birth, poverty, maternal education.
- Review of current global health initiatives like GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization).
Main Results:
- Under-five mortality reduced by 48%, but neonatal and maternal mortality progress lags.
- Pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria caused 2.2 million deaths in 2012.
- Children in rural, poor households, or with uneducated mothers face higher mortality risks.
Conclusions:
- Early diagnosis and low-cost therapies for maternal and neonatal diseases are critical challenges.
- Laboratory medicine plays a strategic role in developing innovative, low-cost diagnostic tools.
- Collaboration between lab medicine and industry is essential to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice for better maternal and child survival.
Abstract:
The 2013 UNICEF annual report on child mortality concluded that between 1990 and 2013, the annual number of deaths among children under-5 years of age has fallen to 6.6 million (uncertainty range, 6.3 to 7.0 million), corresponding to a 48% reduction from the 12.6 million deaths in 1990 (uncertainty range, 12.4 to 12.9 million). About half of under-5 deaths occur in only five countries: India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan and China. By 2050, close to 40% of all live births will take place in Sub-Saharan Africa and 37% of the world's children under age five will live in the region. Most deaths can be attributable to preventable diseases. Pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria together killed roughly 2.2 million children under age five in 2012, accounting for a third of all under-five deaths. Emerging evidence has shown that children are at greater risk of dying before age five if they are born in rural areas, poor households, or to a mother denied basic education. While under-5 mortality was consistently reduced over the past 20 years, few progresses in reducing neonatal mortality as well as maternal mortality have been done. UNICEF is a leading partner in the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), a far-reaching public-private partnership dedicated to increasing children's access to vaccines in poor countries. Early diagnosis and appropriate low-cost therapy of maternal and neonatal diseases are the challenges of the coming years. Therefore, there is the need to promote new experimental and clinical researches and to translate results in clinical practice. Laboratory medicine is strategic for promoting and validating innovative methods for managing the most important causes of maternal, neonatal and under-5 deaths, as well as to consistently reduce the gap between bench and bedside. This may be achieved by a close cooperation between laboratory medicine and industries for the development of new diagnostic tools, especially low-cost disposables easily usable by everyone, namely mothers, for an earlier and specific therapeutic treatments of such diseases like sepsis and infections.