VOA标准英语2013--India Leads World in Most First-Day Newborn Deaths

India Leads World in Most First-Day Newborn Deaths

Afsana Begum lost her second son to jaundice, just a month after he was born in a neighboring slum. Now pregnant again, she is determined¹ that her baby enter the world in a safer environment.

“If you have a baby in the house, they only get a tetanus shot. If you have a child in a hospital, they will get all the necessary immunizations. That’s why I think it’s better to go to the hospital,” she explained.

It’s a message that Save the Children wants more expectant mothers to hear.

The international non-governmental organization sounded the alarm this week with its annual State of the World’s Mothers report, which says India accounts for 29 percent of all global first-day deaths.

The three major causes of newborn mortality are pre-term birth, severe infections, and complications during childbirth. Save the Children said these three conditions alone account for 80 percent of all newborn deaths worldwide.

In India, one of the major challenges includes a lack of access to proper medical care, including well-trained frontline health workers and appropriate facilities for childbirth.

Save the Children sends a mobile clinic into a slum in north New Delhi once a week, so pregnant women who would normally have to travel 10 to 15 kilometers to the nearest hospital can meet with Dr. Veena Dhawan for crucial prenatal visits and basic education that can save a baby’s life.

“They [these pregnant women] don’t know that we should have good nutrition and we should go and register in the hospital," the doctor explained, "so that our delivery is conducted  in a hospital safely.  They usually get delivery done at home, where there is no facility and the child dies due to infection.”

Save the Children said governments must step up to fight high infant mortality rates in South Asia, by addressing issues like chronic² malnutrition³. The group says more than 1,000 babies die every day in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh due to preventable causes.

Prema Sagar went to the mobile clinic to ensure her baby does not become a statistic⁴.

“I want my child to be born healthy and to have a normal delivery. It’s my first pregnancy⁵, and I want my child to be born in a hospital,” she said.

In India, the growing wealth disparity poses an even greater challenge. In its report, Save the Children said, if all newborns in the country experienced the same survival opportunities as those from the richest Indian families, nearly 360,000 more babies would survive each year. 

1 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

2 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

3 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

4 statistic   

n.统计量；adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• Official statistics show real wages declining by 24%.官方统计数字表明实际工资下降了24%。
• There are no reliable statistics for the number of deaths in the battle.关于阵亡人数没有可靠的统计数字。

5 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。