Over 8,000 babies to be born today in Bangladesh: UNICEF

Desk Report: An approximate 8,370 babies will be born in Bangladesh on the first day of 2018, according to UNICEF.

In a press release issued early Monday, UNICEF said that Bangladeshi babies will account for 2.17 per cent of the estimated 385,793 babies to be born globally on New Year’s Day.

It said that Kiribati’s Christmas Island, a small island in the Pacific, would most likely welcome 2018’s first baby; the United States, its last. ‘Globally, over half of these births are estimated to take place in nine countries.’

Besides 8,370 new babies in Bangladesh on the New Year’s Day, approximately 69,070 babies will be born in India, 44,760 in China, 20,210 in Nigeria, 14,910 in Pakistan, 13,370 in Indonesia, 11,280 in the United States of America, 9,400 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and 9,020 in Ethiopia.

‘While many babies will survive, some will not make it past their first day. In 2016, an estimated 2,600 children died within the first 24 hours every day of the year. For almost 2 million newborns, their first week was also their last,’ the release said.




risingbd/Jan 1, 2018/Mukul