“We cannot achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) dedicated to health if we do not start taking care of the smallest, the most vulnerable, if the quality of care of newborns and mothers does not improve”

This is the message that emerges from the new report “SURVIVE and THRIVE. Transforming care for every small and sick newborn ” published by the WHO – World Health Organization – together with UNICEF and many other civil society organizations. The Chiesi Foundation is also among the authors of the report .

The data presented in the report tells us that more than 2.5 million newborns died in 2017 from preventable causes such as prematurity, complications in childbirth, infections and lack of adequate care. Those who survive very often find themselves facing precarious health conditions and disabilities.

The report tells us that if we are to take care of the health of the children of tomorrow, we must take care of the essential care of the newborns of today. We must ensure that every mother and baby has access to quality services: before, during and after childbirth. We need to ensure that the carer has the skills to do so. There is a need for a cultural change, neonatal mortality must no longer be considered inevitable. To do this, the report provides a possible strategy to fully achieve goal 3 of the SDGs.

The report calls for a common commitment, an investment to improve the quality of essential care for newborns and mothers, a system of care in which the person and communities are at the center of the health system ( people-centered care ). A system in which the family is an essential part of the care process, where parental commitment becomes a crucial tool for influencing infant health policies and programs. The report also dedicates space to the essential role of scientific research. Research that is local, that starts from the places where problems are generated to arrive at effective solutions. Finally, the role of information and data collection, another essential tool for developing concrete strategies and actions. A report that calls for a common commitment to ensure a prosperous future for the generations of tomorrow.

The extended version of the report also includes the case study on the NEST project – Neonatal Essential Technologies – by Chiesi Foundation, a project that responds perfectly to this call.

Click here to download the report.