7,000 newborn babies die every day, according to a new report

7,000 newborn babies die every day, according to a new report published by Unicef.

The mortality rate of newborns is still "alarmingly high" across the world, despite many countries in the first world having high survival rates. The report showed that Pakistan has the highest infant mortality rate, with every 1 in 22 newborns dying within the first 28 days of their lives. It is during this time that babies are most vulnerable to the three preventable conditions that lead to most newborn deaths around the world - prematurity, complications during birth, and infections such as sepsis or pneumonia. The Central African Republic (CAF) and Afghanistan also suffer high mortality rates for new babies. One in 24 newborn babies dies in the CAF with one in every 25 passing away shortly after birth in Afghanistan. Contrasting this, Japan and Iceland have the highest newborn survival rates with one in every 1,111 dying in Japan and one in 1,000 dying in Iceland respectively. In Ireland, one in every 446 newborns dies, ranking the country 164th in terms of neonatal survival rate. The study showed that over 80 percent of newborns that died had suffered from the three preventable and treatable conditions. It also detailed that children from the poorest households in the world were twice as likely to die before the age of five compared to children from the richest households. To help save newborns' lives, Unicef is calling for universal health coverage across the board. This would give all expectant mothers access to midwives, equipment, medications, and acceptable healthcare facilities.