Most of premature babies born in Africa and Asia

It seems that Africa and Asia are highly popular range of diseases and epidemics, and children born prematurely, these statistics show that most of the global preterm infants are born in Asia and Africa.

Geneva - The existence of glaring disparities between developing and developed countries in the opportunities for survival of preterm infants.

Nearly 13 million children are born prematurely across the world each year, according to the first global view of preterm birth, which was published today in the International Journal of Public Health, WHO Bulletin.

Most of premature babies born in Africa and Asia "Nearly 11 million of these babies are born prematurely in Africa and Asia, where many do not have access to effective care," says lead author Dr. Lal say, from the Ministry of Reproductive Health and Research World Health Organization.

"A child weighing less than 2000g (born in about 32 weeks of pregnancy) has little chance of survival if born in a developing country," says Say. "On the other hand, born in 32 weeks in developed countries, the chances of survival and a similar one was born in full term."

An average of 10% of births in all parts of the world that occurs before 37 weeks of pregnancy, in other words is premature, although this rate varies between 3.8% for countries in Central Asia and 17.5% in South Africa. When comparing the high-income areas and North America to have a higher percentage than that (10.6%) of the premature birth of Europe (6.2%).

"Given the enormous increase in premature births over the past 20 years is shown in countries with reliable data, premature birth remains a major health problem. Improve access to effective health care, particularly in developing countries, and must remain a priority ", says Dr. Say.

*And here comes "The question what are the real reasons behind the birth of children prematurely, and whether the scientists have all the facts causing the problem?