Million babies a year die within 24 hours: report

A million newborn babies a year die within 24 hours, charity Save the Children said in a report out Tuesday, February 25, which urged governments to tackle preventable deaths. The report by the British-based organization said 6.6 million children around the world died in 2012 before their 5th birthday, mostly from preventable causes.

The number has almost halved from the 12.6 million in 1990, but there remains a “deplorable problem of lack of attention to babies in their first days of life,” the aid organization said. In its report, entitled “Ending Newborn Deaths,” it said one million babies did not survive their first 24 hours of life in 2012. It said two million babies could be saved each year if preventable newborn mortality was ended.

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