Nearly 685 newborns die in Pakistan every day, adding up to more than 250,000 deaths annually. However, a majority of such infants can be saved through simple measures such as newborn resuscitation, breastfeeding and kangaroo mother care.
This was stated by experts speaking at a seminar on accelerating newborn survival and care. They warned that Pakistan’s neonatal mortality crisis had reached an alarming level and urged the government to act with urgency.
The two-day seminar was hosted by the Institute for Global Health and Development (IGHD) at the Aga Khan University (AKU) in collaboration with the Pakistan Paediatric Association (PPA) and the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Pakistan (SOGP). The event brought together policymakers, clinicians, researchers and development partners to discuss practical steps to curb preventable newborn deaths.
Professor Zulfiqar A Bhutta, founding director of the IGHD, lamented that despite decades of programmes, Pakistan remained among the countries with the highest neonatal mortality. “Only nine per cent of health facilities have newborn resuscitation services, while rural districts lack trained nurses and technicians. We continue to build large hospitals in cities while rural communities are neglected,” he said.
Citing Kerala, India — where neonatal mortality is now lower than the United States — he stressed that Pakistan could achieve similar results by investing in rural health centres with trained staff, medicines and essential supplies.
The chief guest of the seminar, Prof Ayesha Isani Majeed, health director general at the Federal Ministry of Health, announced the creation of a national technical working group (TWG) to prioritise newborn care across government platforms. She also confirmed that routine immunisation had been declared a priority under the National Immunisation Management System.
“Integrated newborn care interventions can prevent the majority of deaths and long-term complications. By learning from evidence and from each other, provinces can choose the most effective solutions for their contexts,” she told the event.
Experts agreed that Pakistan already had the knowledge and tools to prevent most neonatal deaths, but weak implementation and poor accountability were blocking the progress. “Helping babies breathe, supporting breastfeeding, and skin-to-skin care are interventions that can save more than half of newborn lives if delivered consistently,” Prof Bhutta stressed.
Prof Shabina Ariff of the AKU underlined the importance of translating knowledge into practice. “Every mother and newborn deserves timely, high-quality care. What Pakistan lacks is not evidence but sustained implementation and accountability,” she said.
PPA President Prof Masood Sadiq emphasised the role of paediatricians in pushing for district-level reforms. “Strengthening neonatal care is not only about cutting mortality numbers; it is about giving every child a fair start in life,” he said.
The seminar also featured technical sessions where provinces shared case studies, and international experts from SickKids Toronto presented results of integrated newborn care kit (iNCK) trials in Rahim Yar Khan and Gilgit-Baltistan. These showed improved health outcomes and cost-effectiveness in rural areas, offering scalable solutions for Pakistan.
With 685 newborn deaths occurring daily, participants agreed that urgent reforms must include equipping district hospitals with trained staff, resuscitation equipment, essential drugs and respiratory support. They stressed that accountability systems at the provincial and district levels were equally critical to ensure consistency of care. “Pakistan has no excuse for continuing to lose so many newborns to preventable causes,” Prof. Bhutta concluded. “The interventions exist. What we need now is the will to act.”
Published in The News on September 18, 2025.
