The number of newborn deaths can be reduced by developing the
capacity of mothers and fathers, and by training government Lady
Health Workers (LHWs) serving communities. These findings, of a
five-year-long Hala Perinatal and Newborn Care Project in the
Matiari District of Sindh , conducted by a team headed by Dr
Zulfiqar Bhutta, Professor and Chairman of the Department of
Paediatrics and Child Health at Aga Khan University (AKU), were
announced at a ceremony held at local hotel in Karachi on
December 20, 2008. Save the Children, an international
organisation committed to improving the lives of children in
need, collaborated with the University on the study. The Federal
Minister for Health, Aijaz Hussain Jhakhrani, was the chief
guest at the event. According to the Pakistan Demographic and
Health Survey, one in every 11 children in Pakistan dies before
the age of five, and more than half of these deaths occur during
the first month of life. Despite past efforts and the
availability of almost 100,000 trained go