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SCANU aid drops child mortality in Barisal

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Published: 14:23, 26 September 2017   Update: 15:18, 26 July 2020
SCANU aid drops child mortality in Barisal

Staff Correspondent: Bangladesh has brought down the child mortality rate setting up some special care units in hospitals.

Newborn babies in the country face great challenges due to several unexpected reasons. As a result, a large number of children die just after their birth or face various types of complications including neonatal sepsis, birth asphyxia.

United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) launched Special Care Newborn Unit (SCANU) experimentally in some public hospitals to provide special treatment to the newborns.

Newborn babies aged between 0-28 days have been kept in the three wards of the Special Care Newborn Unit (SCANU). The newborn, who have various physical problems after their birth are getting treatment from the on duty doctors at the SCANU wards. There are three separate parts in the Special Care Newborn Unit in Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH). The newborn babies, who are doing better after taking treatment in SCANU and ready to leave the hospital soon, take medication in the first one. The second part contains newborn babies who are under treatment for long term and this part also termed as septic area. Besides, highly sensitive or serious baby patients were kept in the third part of the special unit. This part also can be termed as life and death section of SCANU.



A total of 48 beds were set up for the babies in the hospital. However, the number of newborn treatment seekers is high. Some 75 baby patients are taking treatment there right now and the number is on rise. Generally pre mature babies (less than 37 weeks) or bellow weight babies got admitted in SCANU.

Doctors in the SCANU in SBMCH said, “However, it is a matter of happiness that after launching SCANU unit in the hospital, the rate of patients admission increased side by side the rate of babies death decreased.”

Chance of survival is increasing due to better facility of SCANU, doctor Abdulla said.

In reply to another query, the doctors said that all the patients in the special unit get almost free treatment as the hospital supplies everything. 

Nurses in the SCANU took special training before starting work in the unit. As a result, the patients get proper treatment under trained nurses. However, a total of 27 nurses in three shifts are currently working there. The nurse number is really few on the context of patients demand in the special unit.

-Nasim Rahman, back from Barisal



risingbd/Dhaka/ Sep 26, 2017/Nasim

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