Effective reduction of newborn deaths within four weeks of their birth still remain a major challenge for Bangladesh to attain Millennium Development Goal-4 on child survival, an international conference was told yesterday.

“We have successfully cut deaths of children under five years of age, but we could not achieve remarkable success in reducing deaths of babies within four weeks of their birth,” Pro-Vice Chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Prof Mohammad Shahidullah told the news agency on the sidelines of the conference in the city.

Bangladesh Society for Paediatric Infectious Disease (BSPID) organised the conference, second of its kind, at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre to find effective mechanisms to save hundreds of children dying before they observe their fifth birthday.

BSPID President Prof Manzoor Hussain chaired the inaugural function of the conference where State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Mozibur Rahman Fakir spoke as the chief guest.

More than 10 million children die every year due to infectious diseases across the globe, cited BSPID Secretary General and noted microbiologist Dr Samir K Saha, adding 90 percent of such deaths take place in developing countries like Bangladesh mainly due to infections.

Samir said the delayed uptake of vaccines has taken a big toll on the lives of thousands of children of poorer nations and asked the developed world to ensure supply of shots within a couple of years to the poor countries after new vaccines are developed.

Prof Shahidullah said infection has become the leading of cause of child deaths in Bangladesh, where more that 3.5 million born each year and 120,000 neonates die within four weeks of their birth.

He said pneumonia proved to be the number of cause of child deaths, followed by neonatal sepsis, diarrhoea, typhoid, jaundice and dengue. Half of the neonates, he said, also die due to low-birth weight, birth asphyxia, birth injuries and congenital anomalies.