15,000 babies to be born in Pakistan on New Year’s Day

KARACHI- According to a UNICEF Pakistan’s report, an estimated number of 15,000 babies were to be born in Pakistan on New Year’s Day. It further revealed that Pakistani babies would account for 4% of all babies to be born in the world on New Year’s Day.

The report stated that out of 395, 072 babies born around the world on 1 January, a quarter will be born in South Asia, alone. Sydney was to acknowledge an estimated number of 168 babies, followed by 310 in Tokyo, 605 in Beijing, 166 in Madrid and 317 in New York, USA.

Fiji in the Pacific was most likely to deliver 2019’s first baby, the United States, being the last one.

Globally, over half of these births were estimated to take place in eight countries, with Pakistan at fourth place;

1.    India — 69,944


2.    China — 44,940


3.    Nigeria — 25,685


4.    Pakistan — 15,112


5.    Indonesia — 13,256


6.    The United States of America — 11,086


7.    The Democratic Republic of Congo — 10,053


8.    Bangladesh — 8,428

In year 2017, approximately 1 million babies died the day they were born, followed by 2.5 million who lost their lives during their first month. Among those children, most died due to preventable causes such as premature birth, complications during delivery, and infections like sepsis and pneumonia.

UNICEF Representative in Pakistan, Aida Girma vowed to fulfill the rights of every child, beginning with their sole right to survive. She further stated, “We can save millions of babies if we invest in training and equipping local health workers, so that every newborn is born into a safe pair of hands.”

The beginning of this year marks the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, under which governments are committed towards providing health care of good quality to save every child.

Lately, a remarkable progress in child survival has been observed, but in terms of newborn deaths, slow progress is still visible, where it is estimated that babies dying in the first month account for 47 % of all deaths among children under the age of five.

UNICEF’s Every Child Alive campaign in Pakistan and across the world, calls for immediate investment by stakeholders, to deliver quality health care solutions for every mother and newborn, at an affordable cost, including a steady supply of clean water and electricity at health facilities, presence of skilled health attendants during birth, ample supply of necessary material and medicines to prevent and treat complications during pregnancy, delivery and birth.