ABSTRACT
The study analyzed the demographic and socio-economic determinants of neonatal mortality. The variables included one fetal variable [gender], three maternal variables [level of education, occupation, age], three paternal variables [level of education, occupation, age], and seven household [family] variables [nationality, consanguinity, family income, house ownership, type of housing, family type, domestic help]. One calendar year data [January to December 2011] was extracted from Qatar's National Perinatal Registry and analyzed using a univariate regression model. Qatar had a total of 20,583 live births and 102 neonatal deaths during 2011 [NMR 4.95/1000]. Less than secondary school maternal education level, as compared to secondary school or above maternal education level, was the only variable significantly associated with neonatal mortality [OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.23 - 3.53, p=0.009]. The association between the remaining thirteen variables and neonatal mortality was non-significant. Priority investment to raise female literacy above secondary school level may significantly improve neonatal survival
ABSTRACT
Maternal and child survival are not only the targets of WHO's Millennium Development Goals [MDG's] but also a very important outcome indicator of a country's health services. Ever since their implementation in 1990, individual countries as well as development organizations and health care academics have been monitoring and guiding the progress towards achieving the MDG's. The two most recent progress reports, one on Maternal Mortality [MDG-5] and the other on Childhood Mortality [MDG-4] were published by The Lancet on May 2[nd], 2014. Both reports are the hard work of a large group of international experts "The Global Burden of Disease [GBD] Study group". The reports present a global, regional as well as country wise progress in reducing Maternal and Childhood Mortality between 1990 and 2013. The reports give a mix feeling of success as well as failure. While some regions and countries have made exceptional progress; the others have failed to do so. It is heart breaking to see that Pakistan is among the top few countries with no or limited progress. Here we present an account of the situation as well as a summary of health care strategies to counter this failure
ABSTRACT
PEARL Study [Perinatal Neonatal Outcomes Research Study in the Arabian Gulf] is Qatar's prospective National Perinatal Epidemiologic Study funded by QNRF [Qatar National Research Fund - grant # QNRF-NPRP-09-390-3-097]. The study is a joint collaborative research project between Hamad Medical Corporation [HMC], Doha, Qatar and the University of Gloucestershire, Gloucester, United Kingdom. The project aims at building a National Neonatal Perinatal Registry for Qatar called Q-Peri-Reg which will be used to quantify Maternal, Neonatal and Perinatal mortality and morbidities and their correlates. The study is approved by the Research Ethics Committee [IRB] of Hamad Medical Corporation [protocol#9211/09], which is responsible for providing ethical approval to all health care research projects in the State of Qatar