US researchers given task to reduce neonatal mortality in Haiti

MIAMI, USA ( CMC) – Researchers at the Dartmouth College in the United States were yesterday awarded the 4th annual Children’s Prize of US$250,000 that will be used to build a model for the reduction of newborn mortality in Haiti.

The Children’s Prize Foundation (CPF), in making the announcement, said Drs Peter Wright and Alka Dev with the Dartmouth-Haiti Partnership will undertake the 30-month project to introduce a low-cost, highly-effective neonatology service at Hôpital Immaculée Conception (HIC) – the referral hospital for Haiti’s southern region. In doing so, the project will provide critical support of life in acutely low resource settings.

“We are now equipped with funds that will allow us to roll up our sleeves and work with Haitian colleagues on the lofty but still achievable task ahead. A task that we firmly believe can change the outcomes of so many young lives,” said Wright, a professor of Pediatrics at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and staff physician at the Children’s hospital at Dartmouth.

Serving as a referral hospital for approximately 775,000 people in a rural area, HIC currently has no capacity for neonatal resuscitation or ongoing respiratory support.

HIC is in need of a neonatal team trained to distinguish and identify stillbirths from newborns requiring resuscitation at birth.

The winning plan proposes to introduce neonatal resuscitation; establish a new neonatal service with capacity for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) and train key health staff in neonatology care, creating the opportunity to save more lives.

“HIC receives a lot of pregnant women who are experiencing birth complications,” says Alka Dev, a research associate working with Wright.

“Unfortunately delivering at the hospital does not ensure the survival of a newborn, even though the mother may survive. Premature babies can be relatively healthy but die from something manageable like neonatal respiratory distress. This project will allow us to provide training and equipment that are essential for saving the lives of these newborns.”

CPF Founder Ted Caplow said Wright’s proposal aligns succinctly with the mission of the Children’s Prize.

“It is straightforward, scientific and efficient. Founding a neonatal care unit in a significantly low resource setting will require skilled practitioners armed with a robust and streamlined equipment package to ensure the prize investment is maximized. This proposal includes adding a full-time physician to the hospital community to focus on neonatal care, and we believe the impact will be both substantial and direct, especially in a country with so few doctors and limited access to adequate health facilities.”

At the centre of the winning project is Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) three, which puts forth the target to reduce neonatal mortality to 12 per 1,000 live births by 2030.

In 2013, there were 6,713 neonatal deaths in Haiti, and nearly 65 per cent were related to respiratory distress.

“Achieving SDG three, for neonatal mortality in Haiti will be challenging and require capacity across the health system,” noted Wright. “By positioning this project at HIC, we will better understand what resources, training and practices are necessary to lower neonatal mortality throughout Haiti.”