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1. DoH asks hospitals, mothers to follow new birth-giving protocol called 'Unang Yakap'<br />| Manila Bulletin, Dec 10, 2010<br />CEBU CITY, Philippines (PNA) - The Department of Health (DoH) on Friday asked state and private hospitals nationwide as well as Filipino mothers to follow the new birth-giving protocol to keep up with the government's Medium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing childhood mortality by two-thirds to just six per 1,000 live births by 2015.DoH early this year launched a nationwide campaign on proper newborn-care practices.Dr. Honorata Catibog, Director III of the DOH-Family Health Office-National Center for Disease Prevention and Control (FH-NCDPC), said this program is dubbed as quot;
Unang Yakapquot;
(First Embrace). Catibog said the campaign is embodied in an administrative order entitled quot;
Adopting New Policies and Protocol on Essential Newborn Care (ENC),quot;
which details specific policies and principles to follow for all health-care providers involved in newborn care. She made the call at the end of the quot;
From Womb to Tombquot;
media seminar at the Montebello Hotel in this city. Catibog echoed Health Secretary Enrique Ona's call and an earlier statement of former Health Secretary Francisco Duque III which states that with the new protocol, the DOH expects a sharp cut in infant deaths to remove the Philippines from the list of 42 countries that account for 90 percent of global deaths among children below five years old.quot;
This protocol in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) to help solve this newborn-mortality problem because if it is not reduced by at least half, the goal of reducing childhood mortality by two-thirds by 2015 will not be met,quot;
she said. Study shows although childhood death rates in the country showed a downtrend from 1993 to 2003, the decline has slowed down in the last 10 years.quot;
Catibog said the under-five mortality rate decreased to only 32 per 1,000 live births in 2003-from 52 per 1,000 live births in 1988. quot;
Infant-mortality and child-death rates have also exhibited a similar trend over the same period.quot;
She noted that 50 percent of all neonatal and postneonatal deaths occur during the first two days of life, mainly caused by birth asphyxia (31 percent), complications of prematurity (30 percent) and severe infection (19 percent).The new ENC protocol is a comprehensive strategy to help improve the health of the newborn through interventions before conception, during pregnancy, immediately after birth, and in the postnatal period, a ccording to Catibog. The AO provides key behaviors and appropriately timed interventions to make the postnatal period for newborns safer. The new protocol stresses the provision of correct time-bound interventions, which include the immediate drying (within 30 seconds), postponing washing, delayed cord clamping, and initiation of skin-to-skin contact. Early initiation of breastfeeding (within 90 minutes after birth) is also included. Finally, the new AO highlights responsibilities of the DOH, its attached agencies, and private and public health-care providers in ensuring the implementation of evidence-based ENC. It was also noted that nontime-bound interventions such as the provision of vaccinations and physical examination (completed within six hours of birth) must never impede time-bound interventions. To speed up the implementation of the AO, the new protocol will be a part of the normal-spontaneous-deliveries and maternal-care packages of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).<br />COPYRIGHT 2010 Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp.<br />COPYRIGHT 2010 Gale, Cengage Learning<br />