Neonatal Mortality in Rural Bangladesh: An Exploratory Study (Survey‪)‬

INTRODUCTION Every year, over 10 million children, aged less than five years, die globally before their first birthday, and about 40% of these deaths take place within the first 28 days of life, i.e. the neonatal period (1,2). Neonatal mortality rates vary from five in developed countries to 34 per 1,000 livebirths in the less-developed regions of the world (3). Although there has been a remarkable worldwide decline in child mortality in the last quarter of the 20th century, this reduction in death rate has occurred mainly among older children, mostly due to the effects of immunization and infectious disease-control programmes. According to the World Health Report, infant mortality declined by about 25% in developing countries during 1983-1995, whereas during the same period neonatal mortality fell by no more than 10% (4). To achieve further reductions in infant and child mortality rates, a substantial reduction in neonatal death is of major public-health importance (5). Updated knowledge on the cause of death in neonates is needed from a country perspective, both for policy-making and for monitoring and evaluating the existing health programmes.