Worldwide, around one million babies died in 2015 due to complications of preterm birth which is defined as birth before 37 weeks of gestation. Prematurity is the leading cause of under-fives deaths globally along with pneumonia. Preterm infants are at higher risk of dying due to complications like respiratory problems, feeding difficulties, poor regulation of body temperature and recurrent infections.

The burden of morbidity and mortality resulting from prematurity could be reduced by adopting and implementing priority evidence-based interventions such as:

• Ensure antenatal care for all pregnant women, including screening for, and diagnosis and treatment of infections such as HIV and STIs, nutritional support and counselling;
• Provide screening and management of pregnant women at higher risk of preterm birth, e.g., multiple pregnancies, diabetes, high blood pressure, or with a history of previous preterm birth;
• Effectively manage preterm labor, especially provision of antenatal corticosteroids to reduce the risk of breathing difficulties in premature babies. This intervention alone could save around 370 000 lives each year;
• Promote behaviuoral and community interventions to reduce smoking, secondhand smoke exposure, and other pollutants; and prevention of violence against women by intimate partners;
• Reduce non-medically indicated inductions of labor and cesarean births especially before 39 completed weeks of gestation.

In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, given the notable reduction in number of deaths due to pneumonia and diarrhea, preterm birth complications have become the leading cause of death among under-5 children in the Region. It is estimated that around 160 000 babies die due to preterm birth complications comprising near to one fifth of the overall number of under-5 deaths.

Data from countries shows significant variations on contribution of preterm birth to the overall under-5 deaths. In Jordan, for instance, almost a quarter of under-5 deaths are attributed to preterm complications while in a country like Somalia – where post neonatal causes of death are more prevalent- this figure goes down  to 6%. However, it is important to highlight that preterm births represent a public health problem in all Member States in the Region.

Source; WHO observatory 2016

*Figure is for West Bank only and reflects % of prematurity deaths out of infant deaths