The World Health Organization (WHO) launched its “ First Embrace”campaign in Vietnam on July 14, highlighting simple steps that will savethousands of newborn lives and prevent hundreds of thousands ofcomplications each year from unsafe or outdated practices in newborncare in the country.
The WHO said Vietnam has made greatstrides in the last two decades to reduce the number of newborn babiesdying within the first month of life, reaching the UN MillenniumDevelopment Goal target of reducing child mortality.
However, in 2012, over 17,000 babies still died within the firstmonth of life, according to the WHO. For this reason, First Embracehighlights early essential newborn care, or EENC. This package ofactions and interventions address the most common causes of newborndeath or disease, such as prematurity (being born too soon), low birthweight and severe infection such as pneumonia or diarrhoea.
EENC can be performed in all birth settings without the need forcomplicated preparations or expensive technology. Early essentialnewborn care can thus also be applied in district and community healthcentres in remote or hard to reach areas in Vietnam. These areasexperience a disproportionately high number of newborn deaths.
WHO, with support of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam, launches theFirst Embrace campaign in Vietnam simultaneously at three hospitals thisweek: Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, The Obstetrics and PediatricsHospital in Da Nang, and the National Obstetrics and GynecologyHospital in Hanoi. These three hospitals are early essential newborncare Centres of Excellence in Viet Nam where First Embrace practices arealready in use.
WHO supports the development ofthese Centres of Excellence by providing coaching and training tonurses and doctors, and also by creating an enabling environment formothers and newborns to receive early newborn care in hospital.
WHO’s First Embrace campaign is part of a broader effort to improveaccess to and quality of maternal, newborn and child health careservices across Vietnam and WHO’s Western Pacific Region.-VNA
The WHO said Vietnam has made greatstrides in the last two decades to reduce the number of newborn babiesdying within the first month of life, reaching the UN MillenniumDevelopment Goal target of reducing child mortality.
However, in 2012, over 17,000 babies still died within the firstmonth of life, according to the WHO. For this reason, First Embracehighlights early essential newborn care, or EENC. This package ofactions and interventions address the most common causes of newborndeath or disease, such as prematurity (being born too soon), low birthweight and severe infection such as pneumonia or diarrhoea.
EENC can be performed in all birth settings without the need forcomplicated preparations or expensive technology. Early essentialnewborn care can thus also be applied in district and community healthcentres in remote or hard to reach areas in Vietnam. These areasexperience a disproportionately high number of newborn deaths.
WHO, with support of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam, launches theFirst Embrace campaign in Vietnam simultaneously at three hospitals thisweek: Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, The Obstetrics and PediatricsHospital in Da Nang, and the National Obstetrics and GynecologyHospital in Hanoi. These three hospitals are early essential newborncare Centres of Excellence in Viet Nam where First Embrace practices arealready in use.
WHO supports the development ofthese Centres of Excellence by providing coaching and training tonurses and doctors, and also by creating an enabling environment formothers and newborns to receive early newborn care in hospital.
WHO’s First Embrace campaign is part of a broader effort to improveaccess to and quality of maternal, newborn and child health careservices across Vietnam and WHO’s Western Pacific Region.-VNA
