Save the Children study on newborns awarded Lancet Paper of the Year

An article presenting the dramatic results of a Save the Children study on newborns in Bangladesh received The Lancet Paper of the Year award after receiving almost 22,000 votes online by readers.

Friday 13 February 2009

The article, "Effect of community-based newborn-care intervention package implemented through two service-delivery strategies in Sylhet district, Bangladesh: a cluster-randomised controlled trial," reported a one-third (34%) reduction in the number of newborns dying in a study area in Sylhet, Bangladesh, when mothers and newborns received care at home, compared to when they sought care at hospitals or clinics. The home care was provided through visits by local women who underwent a six-week training to learn childbirth preparedness and essential newborn care. 

The study, part-funded by Save the Children in Bangladesh, identified effective ways by which to reduce by a third the amount of children under five dying every year — proving that radically reducing child mortality across the world is possible.

"Public health and global health matter," wrote The Lancet editors in a comment in the 24 January issue, adding: “Such efforts have helped to reduce annual worldwide mortality in under-5-year-olds from nearly 13 million in 1990 to less than 10 million in 2007."

David Mepham, Director of Policy at Save the Children UK, said: "We're honored to receive this recognition from The Lancet and its readers. An estimated 4 million newborns are dying needlessly each year, particularly in Africa and Asia. 

"Save the Children's study in Bangladesh shows that low-cost interventions, delivered through community health workers, can dramatically cut mortality rates. As a matter of urgency, we need to find ways to roll out this approach across all of the countries and communities with the highest levels and rates of mortality."

Save the Children, through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, co-funded the three-year study in Sylhet, Bangladesh with USAID in partnership with Johns Hopkins University and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B). Johns Hopkins University Professor Dr. Abdullah Baqui is the lead author of the article, which ran in the June 7, 2008 edition of The Lancet.

Read our story on delivering results for newborns and mothers in Bangladesh

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