Tanzania: 5,000 Plus Babies Born On January 1, Unicef Explains

AS Tanzania joined the rest of the world to celebrate the ushering in of the New Year on Wednesday, the United Nation's Children Fund (UNICEF) estimated that over 5,000 children were born on the

first day of the year 2020 in the country.

The number is out of the estimated 392,078 babies expected to be delivered globally, according to the data estimated by World Data Lab published on the UN's World Population Prospects.

"The beginning of a new year and a new decade is an opportunity to reflect on our hopes and aspirations not only for our future, but the future of those who will come after us," according to Henrietta Fore, the UNICEF Executive Director.

"As the calendar flips each January, we are reminded of all the possibility and potential of each child embarking on her or his life's journey - if they are just given that chance." She said, adding: "Fiji in the Pacific will most likely deliver 2020's first baby while the United States was expected to deliver the last. Globally, over half of these births are estimated to take place in eight countries."

Each January, UNICEF celebrates babies born on New Year's Day, an auspicious day for child birth around the world. However, for millions of newborns around the world, the day of their birth is far less auspicious.

In 2018, 2.5 million newborns died in just their first month of life; about a third of them on the first day of life.

Among those children, most died from preventable causes such as premature birth, complications during delivery and infections like sepsis.

In addition, more than 2.5 million babies are born dead each year. In Tanzania, children have a much better chance of surviving past their fifth birthday today compared to the situation in previous years.

The government's high-impact programmes such as immunisation, promotion of breastfeeding, Vitamin A supplementation, prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV , and improved management of common childhood illnesses, have saved lives of children across the country.

However, Tanzania is among countries with the highest number of newborn deaths in the world.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund levels and trends in child mortality report (2019), Tanzania has 44,082 neonatal deaths that occur during the first 28 days of life and 76,6 44 infant deaths during the first year of life.

B abies dying in the first month of life accounted for 41.3 per cent of all deaths among children under five in 2018, up from 25.2 per cent in 1990.

"Everyone needs to ask themselves how we can make sure that no child in Tanzania dies any longer from preventable causes, especially in the first month of life. "What do the health workers and communities need to do differently to prevent this from happening?" Rene Van Dongen, UNICEF Tanzania Deputy Representative posed.

To address the issue of maternal and newborn deaths in the country, the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, UNICEF and other stakeholders launched JIONGEZE campaign in 2019, a multi-year campaign on maternal and child survival.