Chryso D Angelo
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 6 2009 (IPS) – An estimated 13 million babies worldwide are born prematurely and more than one million die each year, say health experts.
Africa tops preterm birth rates around the world at 11.9 percent, followed by North America (10.6 percent) and Asia (9.1 percent), according to The Global and Regional Toll of Preterm Birth , a report from the March of Dimes charity based on statistics recently published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The study, presented at the Fourth International Conference on Birth Defects and Disabilities in the Developing World Oct. 4-7 in New Delhi, India, reveals that Africa and Asia accounted for an overwhelming 85 percent of all preterm births combined in 2005, despite the fact that North American preterm births soared 36 percent over the past 25 years.
Relatively little is known about the causes of premature births in the developing world, Christopher Howson, Ph.D., an epidemiologist and vice president for Global Programmes at the March of Dimes, told IPS.
However, malnutrition, coexisting with malaria, anemia, bacterial diseases and inadequate prenatal care are likely factors in the high preterm rates in Africa, he said.
In North America, a rise in the number of pregnancies in women over age 35 has contributed to the increase in premature births, according to the WHO. So has the growing use of assisted reproduction techniques, leading to an increase in the number of twin and higher order multiple births; and the rise in the number of late preterm births (between 34 and 36 weeks gestation).
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Overall, preterm births are responsible for 27 percent of newborn deaths.
Premature births are an enormous global problem that is exacting a huge toll emotionally, physically, and financially on families, medical systems and economies, said Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes.
Babies delivered at less than 37 weeks of completed gestation find it more difficult than full-term babies to feed, maintain normal body temperature and withstand infection, according to UNICEF s State of the World s Children 2009 report on maternal and newborn health.
In addition, most African and Asian mothers do not receive the support and counseling necessary to increase the survival rate in premature babies, such as hygienic cord cleaning and proper breast-feeding techniques, because these countries have among the lowest rates of skilled attendants at birth and institutional deliveries, according to the UNICEF report.
Children who survive a preterm birth face the risk of serious lifelong health problems, according to the March of Dimes.
Defects include cerebral palsy, blindness, hearing loss, and learning disabilities. Even infants born late preterm have a greater risk of re-hospitalisation, breathing problems, feeding difficulties, hypothermia, jaundice and delayed brain development.
This [report] was a first attempt to estimate the worldwide scale of the problem, said Dr. Mario Merialdi, of WHO s Department of Reproductive Health and Research and one of the authors of The Global and Regional Toll of Preterm Birth report.
Merialdi noted that WHO is constantly improving its database on preterm birth in order to support decision-making in the area and to encourage greater efforts to inform health professionals, policy makers, and women of childbearing age about the opportunities for prevention and care.
Added Dr. Howson: While much can be done right now to reduce death and disability from preterm birth, even in low-resource settings, we need to know more about the underlying causes of premature birth in order to develop effective prevention strategies.
If world leaders are serious about reaching the United Nation s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health, then reducing death and disability related to preterm birth must receive priority, said Dr. Howse.
The eight MDGs include a 50 percent reduction in extreme poverty and hunger; universal primary education; promotion of gender equality; reduction of child mortality by two-thirds; cutbacks in maternal mortality by three-quarters; combating the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and developing a North-South global partnership for development.
A summit meeting of 189 world leaders in September 2000 pledged to meet all of these goals by the year 2015.
But their implementation has been undermined by the shortage of funds, cuts in development aid, and most recently, by the global economic crisis.
