A Setting up of Newborn Care Corners in the labour room and ...

Background
declined remarkably in recent years and Bangladesh is on track to achieve Millennium Development Goal
(MDG) 4 for a two-thirds reduction in child mortality by 2015.
Despite this encouraging trend, high rate and slow declines in neonatal mortality is one of the major concern
for child survival and challenge for sustaining progress towards achieving MDG-4. An estimated 100,000
deaths (BDHS 2007). More than two-thirds of the neonates who die do so within 7 days of birth and half of
the them die within 24 hours of birth.
Infections, including sepsis, birth asphyxia and complications of prematurity and low birth weight are the
main causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity in Bangladesh. Lack of awareness regarding essential
referral to appropriate facility or service provider often led to fatal outcome of the neonate.
The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) is committed to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 4 by
Sector Programme, HPNSDP, 2011-16 as a priority objective with a goal to reduce the neonatal mortality
to 22/1000 live birth by 2015.
health status as one of the key priority areas for policies, programming and interventions. The Ministry
of Health and Family Welfare (MOH&FW) has developed and approved the National Neonatal Health
Strategy and guidelines” in 2009 which now provides the strategic directions for neonatal health policies
and programming in Bangladesh. A National Action Plan for Neonatal Health has also been developed to
implement the National Neonatal Health Strategy through scaling up of both home/community and facility
based newborn care within the preview of health sector programme.
The new Health Sector Programme, HPNSDP (2011-16) has incorporated ambitious plan to scale up home/
of a post-natal care visit within 2 days of delivery by a trained provider. Facility based newborn care services
will also be strengthened through establishing Special Care Newborn Unit (SCANU) in the district hospitals
and Newborn Stabilization Unit (NSU) in the Upazila Health Complexes (UHCs). MOH&FW has planned to
scale up SCANUs in 59 district hospitals and NSUs in 275 UHCs/MCWCs by 2016 for the management of
sick newborns.
SOP viii