It doesn’t take a miracle to cut infant deaths, just basic care | Letter

2026-03-24 - 17:10

Filling gaps in neonatal care is a proven way of stopping preventable deaths, writes Dr Farhana Zareef Your coverage of Unicef’s child mortality report (18 March) paints a stark picture. Progress is plateauing and most childhood deaths in 2024 were preventable. This burden is not felt equally; over 80% of under-five deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. Neonatal conditions account for over a third of deaths in children under five. Too often, public birth facilities in fragile systems fail when mothers and babies need them most, leaving survival to chance. The barriers are tragically consistent: delays in deciding to seek care, reaching a facility, receiving timely adequate care and recognition of complicated cases with prompt referral. Continue reading...