National scale up of newborn cord care

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh hosted the Launching Ceremony of National Scale Up of 7.1% Chlorhexidine application for newborn cord care in Dhaka, Bangladesh recently.

In 2013, Bangladesh declared its commitment for Ending Preventable Child Deaths by 2035 and incorporated four priority interventions to prevent neonatal death. Application of 7.1% Chlorhexidine for newborn umbilical cord care is one of the priority interventions for newborn survival. Trials conducted in Bangladesh and other countries have shown that an estimated 23 percent neonatal deaths can be averted with cord care using Chlorhexidine.

The ministry has now decided to scale up this intervention across the country. The national scale up is guided by the National Technical Working Committee for Newborn Health and is supported by several development partners. USAID, through its flagship MaMoni Health Systems Strengthening project, is providing financial and technical assistance for this initiative. The Saving Newborn Lives project of Save the Children is also providing technical assistance to the ministry to facilitate the national scale up of this intervention.