KABUL - Afghanistan’s under-five mortality rate of 257 deaths per 1000 live births is the third highest in the world, according to the State of the World’s Children.
The deaths in Afghanistan are surpassed only by the rates for Angola and Sierra Leone. Globally, 6-8 per cent of children are born prematurely.
According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) on the occasion of World Prematurity Day, under the theme ‘Born too soon, the right care, at the right time, in the right place, complications of premature birth are the main causes of death for more than one million children every year worldwide.
The Ministry of Public Health, in collaboration with UNICEF, WHO, USAID and other development partners, on Sunday renewed its commitment to taking concrete action and invest in preterm birth and newborn survival.
“Without a major push to reduce these deaths, we will not reach the Global Goal, endorsed by 193 countries, to end all preventable newborn and child deaths by 2030,” said Sheema Sen Gupta, UNICEF Afghanistan, Deputy Representative. 
She said it was essential to ensure high-quality care and provide nurturing necessary for a best start in life for every baby everywhere.
“While World Prematurity Day is an opportunity to call attention to the heavy burden of death and disability and the pain and suffering that preterm birth causes, it is equally important to reflect on and challenge ourselves about cost effective, high impact and innovative solutions, to reach every mother and every child,” Sen Gupta emphasized.
To ensure high quality care for every baby everywhere in Afghanistan, essential services should be provided through health systems that integrate a continuum of home, community, outreach and facility-based care. Over the last two years, UNICEF delivered 600 equipment for newborns to 209 health facilities in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, saving the lives of mothers and their newborns requires more than just medical interventions but a multi-sectoral support. (Pajhwok)