This webinar marked World Prematurity Day. This day raises awareness for the challenges of preterm birth and celebrates the lives of preterm infants and their families worldwide. Preterm birth is the leading cause of death in children under the age of five; each year, about 15 million babies worldwide are born preterm, that is about 1 in 10 children.
This webinar reviewed the gaps, solutions and opportunities to address preterm birth and scale up small and sick newborn care. Ministries of Health representatives shared their progress, experience and lessons learned in implementing and scaling up small and sick newborn care.
Agenda:
Welcome and introduction: Dr Anshu Banerjee, Director, Department for Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health and Ageing, WHO Geneva
Small and Sick Newborn Care- Where are the gaps?
Progress across 106 countries for small and sick newborn care: Dr Gagan Gupta, Senior Advisor, Maternal and Newborn Health, UNICEF New York
Scaling up access to quality inpatient care for preterm babies in Ghana: Dr Chris Fofie, Deputy Director, Reproductive and Child Health Unit, Family Health Division, Ghana Health Service
Small and Sick Newborn care- What are the Solutions?
Panel of experts:
Moderated by Dr Queen Dube, Newborn Health Lead, Department for Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health and Ageing, WHO Geneva
- Dr Felix Bundala, Director for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Ministry of Health, Tanzania
- Dr Dennis Marke, Program Manager, Health Systems Strengthening, Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone
- Dr Md. Jahurul Islam, Program Manager, National Newborn Health Program & Integrated Management of Childhood Illness, Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bangladesh
- Dr Syeda Humaida Hasan, Consultant, Department of Neonatology, Chittagong Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh
Questions & Answers with the audience
This webinar was co-hosted by the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, World Health Organization Geneva and UNICEF HQ.
