Make our children live long

Findings in the latest BBS report on child mortality rate in Bangladesh are cause for concern. According to the Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics launched recently by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, in 2021, the mortality rate of children under five was 28 per 1,000 live births. It rose to 31 in 2022. Similarly, deaths of children under one increased to 25 from 22 every 1,000 live births during the same period.

No doubt Bangladesh has made a remarkable progress in reducing child deaths since 1990. It was estimated that 30 years ago 146 children under five years of age per 1,000 live births died in the country. The rate fell to 28 deaths in 2021. But the recent BSVS report shows that child mortality rate in the country is not decreasing. Rather, it is increasing alarmingly. The Sustainable Development Goal Target 3.2 instructs to reduce the neonatal mortality rate to less than 12 and 25 under-five deaths per 1,000 live-births by 2030. It is possible to reduce the child mortality rate significantly if the government looks into the issues and irregularities that prevent children's access to quality care.

Many government hospitals and even private clinics in Bangladesh often come into question for not providing the necessary emergency service children in critical conditions require. There is also a lack of quality in their service. At Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute in Dhaka, the largest paediatric facility in the country, more than 6,000 children are reportedly refused admission every year because its 665 beds are always full. And many of the children turned away need immediate care. There are around 500 upazila health complexes across the country. However, none of these government health care facilities can provide patients with emergency care including NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) facilities. The situation is worse in rural and hard-to-reach areas. According to the National Institute of Health, pneumonia with other infections, birth asphyxia, prematurity and low-birth-weight are responsible for more than half of all deaths among children under-five in Bangladesh. Although largely unrecognised, drowning is the second leading cause of death for children under the age of five in the country.Each year, over 14,000 children in Bangladesh reportedly die due to drowning.

Child mortality rate is often used as an indicator of a country's health and development. It sheds light on the availability and quality of health service, poverty and socioeconomic condition. High child mortality rates are generally indicative of unmet human health needs in sanitation, medical care, nutrition and education. If we want our children to grow up into healthy, happy and productive adults, we must invest more in our health sector. Meanwhile, better awareness of childhood illnesses that can be kept at bay through immunisation and proper sanitation is the key to reducing the incidence of disease among children. We should also realise that only skilled birth attendants can cope with the dangers of childbirth. Moreover, public awareness must be raised so that people can learn about the basic requirements of newborns' health like breastfeeding within the first hour, skin-to-skin contact and good nutrition.

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