NEWSNOTE
Renewed focus on new-borns seeks to reduce child deaths in
Ethiopia
Neonatal deaths account for over 40% of deaths for children under five
Addis Ababa, 09 May 2013 – To consolidate gains made in reducing child deaths, the
Government of Ethiopia supported by UNICEF and ELMA Philanthropies, is supporting the initiation
of community based maternal and newborn care including management of newborn infections by
the health extension workers.
Despite the country’s huge child survival successes that have halved child mortality rates in the last
decade from 139/1000 live births to 77/1000 live births, there has been no marked decline in
neonatal mortality rate, which was 39/1000 live births in 2005 and stood at 37/1000 live births in
2010.
Newborn deaths - children who die within the first 28 days of life- account for over 40% of under
five deaths in Ethiopia and this ambitious initiative aims to accelerate health outcomes and survival
chances for newborns through a targeted community based initiative with strong linkage to health
facilities.
“Community-based management of newborns is indeed Ethiopia’s next frontier in the fight against
preventable child mortality,” said, Dr Peter Salama, UNICEF Country Representative in Ethiopia.
Under the recently launched programme, health extension workers with support from Health
Development Armies and community leaders, will seek out pregnant women, identify new births in
their communities, provide counselling, regular assessments, treatment and care, through visiting
mothers and newborns at home soon after birth. A combination of lack of knowledge, socio-cultural
beliefs, limited access to skilled care and poor health practices, often create barriers to identifying
and treating infections in new born babies. This support will be vital in a country where 90% of the
women deliver at home.
Anchored in Ethiopia’s successful health extension programme, which has over 34, 000 health
extension workers delivering vital health services to communities across rural Ethiopia, has
successfully implemented the community based integrated case management of pneumonia,
diarrhoea, malaria and severe malnutrition (iCCM). Since 2010 nearly 28,000 HEWs have been
trained and supported to provide the iCCM services with strong leadership from the government and
support from development partners and NGOs. The community based maternal and newborn care
will be implemented on the iCCM platform and further strengthen the primary health care unit and
the health sytems.
“A health extension worker is embedded in the community, they have local knowledge, , understand
the socio-cultural beliefs and if adequately skilled and equipped they can break barriers and turn the
tide on child deaths,” said Dr Salama.
The renewed neonate focus is informed by both global and local evidence showing that newborn
mortality rates can be substantially reduced through community based interventions. For instance
the programme follows a 6 year study in Ethiopia, supported by the FMoH and Save Newborn Lives,
that shows that if properly supported and trained, health extension workers can safely treat new
born sepsis at community level.
To support the programme, the Government of Ethiopia will strengthen health centres and health
posts to support the health extension workers. While UNICEF and ELMA are co-financing the
programme in an initial six zones, after the learning phase ends in 2013 the Ethiopian government
plans to scale the programme across the country by 2015. If successful, this is potentially one of
the strongest community based maternal and newborn programme in Africa in terms of population
coverage and quality of services.
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About UNICEF
UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from
early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing
countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic
education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS.
UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and
governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org
In June 2012, the Governments of Ethiopia, India and the United States with UNICEF launched a
global roadmap to end preventable deaths of children under the age of five. Since then, under the
banner of Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed, more than half the world’s
governments have signed up and renewed their commitment to child survival.
For further information, please contact:
Alexandra (Sacha) Westerbeek, Communication Manager, UNICEF Ethiopia
Tel.: +251 11 518 4039, Mobile: +251 911 255109, email: awesterbeek@unicef.org
Wossen Mulatu, Communication Officer, UNICEF Ethiopia, Tel.: +251 115 184028, Mobile: +251 911 308483,
email: wmulatu@unicef.org
Lean more about our programmes and activities by visiting us on: www.unicef.org/ethiopia,