1,500 African kids will die by tomorrow, save the children

At least 1,500 newborns will die in Sub-Saharan Africa over the next 24 hours, according to a report published on Tuesday by an international child welfare group.
Save the Children Italia Director Valerio Veri said these figures were particularly distressing given that most of the deaths were preventable.
According to the study by Save the Children, released to coincide with the Day of the African Child, over 90% of the 1.9 million annual deaths among Sub-Saharan children are from common diseases or illness.
A quarter of the fatalities are the result of birth complications, while around one in five die from pneumonia. A further 18% die of malaria, 16% from diarrhoea, 6% from Aids-related illnesses and 5% from measles.
''This tragic toll could easily be reduced by access to low-cost, specialist and neonatal services or simply by promoting breastfeeding and hygiene within families and the community,'' Veri said.
The report echoes this, highlighting the fundamental importance of providing basic low-cost services such as tetanus toxoid immunisation, skilled care at delivery and educating mothers on basic newborn care.
Factors that could make an immediate difference include exclusive breastfeeding, warming and drying, and the early detection and treatment of infections, said the dossier.
''In Sub-Saharan Africa, 4.5 million children fail to reach the fifth year of their life, while a quarter die within 28 days of being born,'' he continued.
''In all developing countries, and particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, the most dangerous day in a child's life is the day it is born''.
Veri highlighted the importance of raising public awareness of the problem ahead of the upcoming Group of Eight summit in July.
''We hope this will give world leaders the chance to focus on the fourth Millennium Goal, which deals with children, and make the financial commitment needed to achieve this goal,'' he said.
In 2000 world leaders signed up to a set of eight Millennium Development Goals to reduce poverty, the fourth of which promises to reduce child mortality levels by two-thirds by 2015.
According to the Save the Children report, at current rates, this goal will not be achieved before 2045.
The Day of the African Child takes place each year on the anniversary of the 1976 Soweto protests in South Africa, in which thousands of schoolchildren were injured or killed while calling for their rights.