Of the estimated 15 million preterm births each year, at least 1.1 million of them die shortly after birth, world health experts said Wednesday, complaining of a lack of recognition of the issue, according to dpa. The World Health Organisation report said countless of preterm babies who do survive suffer lifelong physical, neurological or educational disability. And a third of those who died could have been saved with inexpensive treatments and preventions. The study, entitled Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth, was sponsored by the World Health Organization and more than 40 organizations. More than 100 health experts contributed to the report presented at UN headquarters. "Being born too soon is an unrecognized killer," said Joy Lawn, a medical doctor who co-edited the study and is the director of Global Evidence and Policy for Save the Children group. Lawn said preterm births account for half of all newborn deaths worldwide and the second - after pneumonia - leading cause of deaths in children under five. The study called for preventive measures to reduce premature births. The countries with the greatest numbers of preterm births are India, with over 3.5 million; China, more than 1.1 million; Nigeria, 770,000; Pakistan, 748,000; Indonesia, 675,000; the United States, 517,000; Bangladesh, 424,000 and the Philippines, 348,000. Lawn said the number of preterm births are increasing and 50 million births worldwide still take place at home, where many babies die without birth or death certificates. WHO defines preterm as 37 weeks of completed gestation or less. Of the 15 million preterm births, 84 per cent or 12.5 million are late term, between 32 and 37 weeks and the rest are very preterm, between 28 and 32 weeks.
