Special Bulletin: The Twenty-Third Annual Review Meeting of the Health Sector

Abstract

Globally, 2.7 million newborns die every year during the first month of life because of birth asphyxia, complications of preterm birth, and infections. Most of the neonatal deaths and stillbirths (99%) occur in Low and Lower-Middle-Income Countries with half of the deaths happening at home (1). In Africa, about 1.16 million babies die every year in their first month of life, and half of them, on the first day of their life. Another 3.3 million children will die before they reach their fifth birthday (2). About 75% of neonatal deaths