Unicef launches special campaign to keep ‘Every Child Alive’ in Bangladesh

Unicef as part of its global effort has launched a special campaign in Bangladesh to save newborns.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 20 Feb 2018, 08:42 AM
Updated : 20 Feb 2018, 10:32 AM

The UN children agency says the campaign, titled ‘Every Child Alive’, will demand and deliver solutions on behalf of the world’s newborns and will boost the Bangladesh National Newborn Campaign launched in November 2017.

“It’s a year-long campaign,” Unicef Bangladesh spokesperson AM Sakil Faizullah told bdnews24.com. “We started today [Tuesday] through social media campaign”.

Cricketer Shakib Al Hasan , a Unicef goodwill ambassador, went live on Facebook and interacted with people on issues of newborn and child health, he said.

“At the same time, the campaign is started among the politicians and government policy makers,” added Faizullah, Unicef Bangladesh’s communication manager.

Bangladesh has achieved MDG4 and made commendable progress in neonatal mortality.  In 1990, 241,000 infants were dying within a month of birth, and in 2016, it came down to 62,000.

But still Bangladesh is among the 10 countries with the highest number of newborn deaths in 2016, and 88 percent of neonatal deaths are from three preventable causes.

In addition to the newborn deaths, 83,000 still births happen every year. The Unicef says, a global report on newborn mortality launched on Tuesday also reaffirms this trend.

These deaths can be prevented with access to well-trained midwives, proven solutions like, clean water, disinfectants, breastfeeding within the first hour, skin-to-skin contact, and good nutrition.

Bangladesh earlier, through the National Newborn Campaign, pledged to end all preventable child and neonatal deaths by 2035.

Through this new campaign, UNICEF in a statement said they are issuing an “urgent appeal” to government, health care providers, donors, the private sector, families and businesses to keep every child alive.

“The campaign, aims to build consensus on the principle that every mother and every baby deserves affordable, quality care,” it reads.

The campaign will provide support on issues like recruiting and training of doctors, nurses and midwives, ensuring clean and functional health facilities with the reach of every mother and baby as well as empower adolescent girls, mothers and families to demand and receive quality care, according to the UN agency.

Apart from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan and Tanzania are the other nine countries focused for this global campaign. Together, these countries account for more than half of the world’s newborn deaths.

“No baby should die of preventable causes, and we need to extend affordable, quality health care to every mother and baby,” UNICEF Bangladesh representative Edouard Beigbeder was quoted as saying in the statement.

“Through this campaign UNICEF aims to mobilise public support to influence policy change, fund solutions and engage with individuals, businesses and policy-makers to make this happen”.

Unicef Bangladesh’s spokesperson Faizullah told bdnews24.com that ahead of the national elections later this year, they would also persuade political parties to include newborn care in their manifestos.