Qureshi, ZU;
Millum, J;
Blencowe, H;
Kelley, M;
Fottrell, E;
Lawn, JE;
Costello, A;
(2015)
Stillbirth should be given greater priority on the global health agenda.
BMJ
, 351
, Article h4620. 10.1136/bmj.h4620.
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Abstract
The global rate of stillbirths was estimated to be 18.9 per 1000 births in 2009, equating to a total of 2.64 million stillbirths, 1.2 million of which were during labour.1-3 The burden is heaviest for women in low and middle income countries and the poorest women in high income countries.2 Given its scale, stillbirth prevention should be high on the global health agenda. However, in the current draft of the United Nations sustainable development goals, which sets global targets for 2015-30, stillbirth is not mentioned, even though neonatal and under 5 mortality rates are included.4 Explicit targets and accountability to track and reduce national stillbirth rates would help raise the political profile of stillbirths, engaging global leaders and increasing country government programmatic action. The Every Newborn action plan, which aims to provide all nations with a platform for ending preventable newborn deaths and stillbirths, proposed a target of reducing the stillbirth rate to ≤12 per 1000 births in every country by 2030.3 There is a strong case to be made at country and international levels that the introduction of stillbirth targets will encourage greater investment in perinatal care interventions. This has the potential to reduce neonatal and maternal deaths, as well as stillbirths, giving a triple return on programme investment and research.5 In this article we argue for international adoption of the Every Newborn action plan stillbirth targets.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Stillbirth should be given greater priority on the global health agenda. |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1136/bmj.h4620 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h4620 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2015 |
| Keywords: | Cost of Illness, Developing Countries, Family Health, Female, Global Health, Health Expenditures, Health Priorities, Humans, Infant, Infant Mortality, Infant, Newborn, Maternal Health Services, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care, Reproductive Health, Stillbirth, Women's Rights |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1474999 |
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