Three-quarters of newborn care facilities in Nepal lack critical medicines
Summary
Nearly 75% of health facilities in Nepal providing special newborn care lack critical medicines required for serious complications, revealing significant gaps in service quality and infrastructure.
Key Points
- Nearly 75% of health facilities providing special newborn care in Nepal lack medicines needed for serious complications.
- Only about 58% of facilities had a dedicated newborn care doctor, and advanced equipment for breathing difficulties was present in only 20% of facilities.
- More than one-third of facilities lacked kangaroo mother care chairs, and nearly two-thirds did not have kangaroo mother care beds essential for premature and low-birth-weight babies.
- Nepal's neonatal mortality rate has dropped nearly 60% since 2000 but challenges remain to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goal target of reducing neonatal deaths to 12 per 1,000 live births.
