Since the beginning of this year there have been 3,065 neonatal deaths compared to 2,763 in the same period last year, which is a 10.8% increase. According to the Epidemiological Bulletin for week 45, published by the Ministry of Public Health, 74% of these deaths, some 2,259, happened during the first 28 days of the babies’ lives.
In the last four weeks, 277 babies died in their first month after birth, as reported. There has, however, been a small reduction in the number of maternal deaths with 174 recorded to this date in 2017 and 165 recorded to date this year. In the last week there were five maternal deaths of women between the ages of 16 and 40.
Activist Sergia Galván attributes the high number of neonatal deaths in the country to a Dominican public health system that is on the edge of collapse due to a low level of investment and its focus on treatment of disease and not prevention, with a lack of treatment of environmental factors and malnutrition. Galván added the statistics also reflect the lack of compliance with protocols and the lack of existence of a regime of consequences and sanctions following neonatal deaths.
Others consider that the lack of legalization of abortion contributes to the high number of deaths when births are due to rape or incest or when the pregnancy is not viable.
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Al Momento
4 December 2018
