Cyprus-born babies have one of highest survival rates in world

Babies born in Cyprus have some of the best chances of survival as the island has one of the lowest newborn mortality rates in the world, according to figures published by Unicef on Tuesday.

Specifically, one in every 714 newborns die in Cyprus, ranking in the 10 lowest numbers on the list, which spans countries from across the world.

Placed on number 178, Cyprus is just above Estonia, Slovenia, Finland, Singapore, Iceland and Japan, which is the last and therefore best, ranked, at 184 with one in every 1,111 newborns dying.

Pakistan has the highest newborn mortality rate with one in 22 dying.

According to the Unicef report, “more than 80 per cent of newborn deaths are due to prematurity, complications during birth or infections such as pneumonia and sepsis.

These deaths can be prevented with access to well-trained midwives, along with proven solutions like clean water, disinfectants, breastfeeding within the first hour, skin-to-skin contact and good nutrition.

Unicef’s executive director Henrietta H Fore, said “while we have more than halved the number of deaths among children under the age of five in the last quarter century, we have not made similar progress in ending deaths among children less than one month old.

Given that the majority of these deaths are preventable, clearly, we are failing the world’s poorest babies.

Cyprus Mail