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NewsDay

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Over 100 children dying daily: Report

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A recent medical report has revealed that an average of 100 children under five years of age are dying every day in Zimbabwe, mostly due to preventable causes before and during the first month after birth. According to the survey titled 2010 Global Systematic Analysis of National Causes of Child Mortality Report around 10 758 […]

A recent medical report has revealed that an average of 100 children under five years of age are dying every day in Zimbabwe, mostly due to preventable causes before and during the first month after birth.

According to the survey titled 2010 Global Systematic Analysis of National Causes of Child Mortality Report around 10 758 newborn babies die each year in Zimbabwe, primarily due to pre-term delivery (37%), asphyxia (27%) and infection (19%).

A senior Health ministry official, Gibson Mhlanga, on Friday attributed most of the deaths to lack of basic equipment at public health institutions. He was addressing delegates at the signing ceremony for a $431 210 fund for newborn health care for Zimbabwe between Absolute Return for Kids (ARK) and the United Nations Childrens Fund (Unicef).

Mhlanga, who is the principal director for preventative services in the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, also attributed the high mortality rate to the brain drain that paralysed the health sector three years ago.

There is a shortage of basic equipment and basic skills to ensure that we do not lose any of our babies, partly due to brain drain, but also because in terms of numbers the workers that we have on the ground are still way below our expectations, said Mhlanga.

Unicef country representative Peter Salamao said: We are talking about things that are quite simple to prevent, quite simple for even a basically-trained health worker to do. We are talking about warming the baby so these are simple things, basic equipment required, basic training required and we can work together to prevent the loss of life.

The project, to be implemented in 20 district hospitals, is aimed at ensuring that every newborn baby has access to essential newborn care and neo-natal basic life support immediately after birth.

Absolute Return for Kids is happy to collaborate with the inclusive government and Unicef to scale up efforts to save the lives of newborns in Zimbabwe, said ARK managing director Chris Abani.

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