Over 9 lakh newborns die annually in India: WHO study

"India alone has more than 900,000 newborn deaths per year, nearly 28 % of the global total," WHO said.

There is no decline in the number of newborn deaths in India.

More than nine lakh children in the country die every year before becoming one-month-old, says a study conducted by the World Health Organisation.

India has the highest number of newborn deaths each year. The country, along with Nigeria, Pakistan, China and the Democratic Republic of Congo, accounts for more than half of the 3.3 million deaths.

"India alone has more than 900,000 newborn deaths per year, nearly 28 % of the global total," WHO said.

According to the study, India's neonatal mortality rate (NMR), or deaths per 1,000 live births, was 49 in 1990 and the country recorded 13,49470 neonatal deaths. In 2009, the NMR dropped to 34, which worked out to 9,07820 deaths.

The study finds that newborn deaths dropped from 4.6 million to 3.3 million between 1990 and 2009. However, while the newborn mortality rate dropped 28 per cent during that time, it lagged behind maternal mortality and mortality of older children.

Besides WHO, the study, published in the medical journal PLoS Medicine, was also joined by experts from Save the Children and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Dr Joy Lawn of Save the Children's Saving Newborn Lives programme said though global focus on maternal and child health has increased over the years, it overlooked newborns, who now account for 41 per cent of child deaths in the world.

"Newborns are barely on the global health agenda and this study lays out the tragic results of that neglect. Each year 3.3 million babies still die in the first four weeks of life, despite the existence of proven, cost-effective interventions that could save these newborn lives," media quoted Dr Lawn saying.

The three leading causes of newborn deaths were preterm delivery, asphyxia and severe infections. 

"We know that solutions as simple as keeping newborns warm, clean and properly breastfed can keep them alive, but many countries are in desperate need of more and better trained frontline health workers to teach these basic lifesaving practices," said Thomas Chandy of Save the Children. 

“The global health worker crisis is the biggest factor in the deaths of mothers and children, and particularly the 3.3 million newborns dying needlessly each year. Training more midwives and more community health workers will allow many more lives to be saved.”