Ecuador and Colombia cooperate to reduce neonatal mortality

Part of the response to this challenge is associated with prenatal care, healthy nutrition and adequate medical support for mothers and fathers.

According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), “in Latin America and the Caribbean, 57% of estimated under-five deaths are concentrated in the first 28 days of life, while globally this figure is 47%” (PAHO, 2024). Although from 2000 to 2022 the number of deaths of children under the age of five decreased 60%, infant mortality, specifically that affecting newborns, is still present in several countries of the region. However, some of them have managed to generate innovative strategies to mitigate its impact.

For example, four decades ago, the rate of newborn deaths reached 70% in Colombia (Rotary, 2023). The lack of neonatal units for the care of babies led a group of doctors to develop the Kangaroo Mother Care Method (KMC or MMC by its Spanish acronym), through which they could keep babies warm, improve their nutrition, reduce infections and increase the bond with their mothers.

This system, designed to care for premature or low birth weight babies, is based on skin-to-skin contact between the child and the mother, exclusive breastfeeding (as far as possible) and early discharge from the medical center (Kangaroo Foundation, 2024). According to a 2021 study, this good practice can save up to 150,000 lives each year, and, based on the World Health Organization (WHO), it should be implemented as soon as postpartum care begins: “When initiated as early as possible, the method can save more lives, improve health outcomes for babies, and ensure a mother’s constant presence with her sick baby” (Rotary, 2023).

The 2021-2025 National Opportunities Plan of Ecuador, in turn, aims to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality, focusing on lowering the neonatal mortality rate from 4.6 to 4.0 every 1,000 births.

In the framework of this national priority, a partnership was created with the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and the government of Colombia to transfer knowledge and accumulated capacity from one country to the other, and to support the implementation of the Kangaroo Care Network at the national level in Ecuador, strengthening outpatient neonatal care services.

Putting this network into practice and, therefore, achieving a sustained reduction of neonatal morbidity and mortality in the Ecuadorian National Health System, is the main objective of this SSC initiative between the two Andean countries. In addition to providing technical assistance and training for health professionals and awarding the Certification of Excellence to two specialized third-level hospitals, the initiative also planned to strengthen infrastructure through the provision of 20 positional chairs, 5,000 brochures to advise parents on home care, and a virtual toolbox for training (Ministry of Public Health of Ecuador, internal document, 2022).

At the end of this initiative, recommendations were made to government authorities and hospitals, including: continue with the process of standardizing and strengthening the model in health centers; monitor and periodically provide feedback on the program in hospitals; and strengthen administrative support and budgetary planning in terms of infrastructure, equipment and human talent.

It should be noted that the Kangaroo Mother Care Method has already been shared by Colombia with countries of other developing regions, such as Bhutan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Pakistan (in 2020) and with Kenya and Ghana (in 2015).

Through this initiative, Ecuador and Colombia’s SSC contributed to SDG 3 (Good health and well-being), specifically to target 3.2 “(…) aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births” (United Nations, 2024).

July 2024

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Source: SEGIB based on Agencies and Directorates-General for Cooperation and Kangaroo Foundation Colombia (2024), Ministry of Public Health of Ecuador (internal document, 2022), United Nations (2024), PAHO (2024) and Rotary (2023).

Photos: Mothers feeding and caring for their babies at the San Isidro Hospital in Quito (Ecuador), strengthening the bond with their children through the Kangaroo Mother Care Method. Image bank on South-South and Triangular Cooperation in Ibero-America. SEGIB-PIFCSS. 2024.