Invisible Lives
Author(s)/Editor(s): Save the Children
Publisher/Organizer: BBC World
Publication date: 2010
Language: English
Overview
Save the Children featured in BBC World Invisible Lives Documentary on January 26, 27, 28 and 29.
Many of the nearly 4 million newborn deaths that occur globally each year could be prevented with simple and cost-effective solutions, according to Invisible Lives, a 22-minute documentary scheduled to air worldwide January 26 at 20:30 GMT on BBC World. Dr. Joy Lawn, a newborn health expert with Save the Children, travels to Nepal and Malawi to examine how these two countries, although worlds apart, are making progress in saving newborn lives. The documentary explores how these low-income countries are among the few on track to meet the United Nation's Millennium Development Goal of reducing deaths of children under 5 years of age by 2/3 by 2015 despite a myriad of obstacles.
More than two-thirds of newborn deaths take place in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, often in the first days of life, without a name let alone a birth certificate. The risk of newborn death in Malawi and Nepal, for instance, is 33 per 1,000 births; whereas the same risk in Europe and North America is around 3 per 1,000 births. According to Save the Children, a leading international humanitarian agency, it doesn't have to be this way.
"While the numbers are daunting, Malawi and Nepal demonstrate major life-saving progress is being made," says Charles MacCormack, president of Save the Children. "These countries are shining examples of what can be accomplished when governments, United Nations agencies, donors and non-governmental organizations work together to support health systems in low-income countries."
Free download on and after 26th January at www.rockhopper.tv. To obtain a copy of Invisible Lives (22 minutes), please E-mail Saving Newborn Lives