Do we need a new global policy for ending preventable perinatal deaths in fragile low-income countries?

Abstract

In 2020, an estimated 2.4 million neonates lost their lives, and an additional 2 million were stillborn. The ten countries in the world with the highest estimated neonatal mortality rate (NMR) – all above 33 per 1000 live births – have had an average annual reduction in NMR of 1.3% in the last 30 years. This decline is significantly less than the world average of 2.6% and less than all of sub-Saharan Africa at 1.7% [1,2].