The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says around 20,210 babies were born in Nigeria on New Year’s Day 2018. The UN agency says this represents the third largest population of newborns in the world on the day. It also reveals that almost 386,000 babies were born worldwide same day.
UNICEF reported that over half of these births are estimated to take place in nine countries. These are: India, 69,070; China, 44,760; Nigeria, 20,210; Pakistan, 14,910; Indonesia, 13,370; United States, 11,280; Democratic Republic of Congo, 9,400; Ethiopia, 9,020 and Bangladesh, 8,370. While many babies would survive, some would not make it past their first day, it said.
UNICEF’s Chief of Health, Stefan Peterson, said on Monday that the agency was challenging nations around the world to make sure more newborns survive their first days of life.“This new year, UNICEF’s resolution is to help give every child more than an hour, more than a day, more than a month – more than survival,” Peterson said.
The UN agency said in 2016, an estimated 2,600 children died within the first 24 hours every day of the year. UNICEF added that for almost two million newborns, their first week was also their last. In all, 2.6 million children died before the end of their first month, the global children’s agency disclosed.
"We call on governments and partners to join the fight to save millions of children’s lives by providing proven, low-cost solutions.”Over the past two decades, the world has seen unprecedented progress in child survival, halving the number of children worldwide who die before their fifth birthday to 5.6 million, in 2016.
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