It was an enriching experience yesterday During the pre-Aviva Day workshop in Bamenda Cameroon.
I was truly honored to be one of the speakers for the #AvivaDay2023 pre-workshop on neonatal mortality, alongside a great leader, Dr. Gwanyama Noella, Founder of Talk Pregnancy with Dr Noella (TPWDN) and the first ever Aviva Scholar Niegem Mbwame
We shared the Global burden of neonatal mortality, with 2.4 million yearly neonatal deaths reported in 2020, over 40% of these taking place in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Babies born in our community have a 10-time higher risk of dying compared to those in developed areas. Together we brainstormed how we can engage the community to address context-specific factors contributing to this high mortality rate.
L to R: Dr. Platine Nyuyki, Aviva Scholar, Niegem Mbwame ( 6th-year medical Student), Dr. Noella Ngwanyama, Dr. Edie Borisgoden
To reduce neonatal deaths, we can:
-Increase the uptake of antenatal consultations,
-create awareness of risk factors of prematurity
-Create awareness of ways to prevent neonatal infections
-Empower midwives with neonatal resuscitation skills to improve birth care and support babies with congenital defects or neonatal diseases.
- Implement preconception care.
This year 2023, Aviva Day isn't just about reaching out to sick babies with financial assistance and comfort, but also about looking into ways to promote preventive measures.
The AVIVA story.
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Aviva was the daughter, an angel and a bunch of joy to her parents Cristina & Hans Kullberg. She died at 10 months from an unknown health condition, but since then she triumphantly lives on through the Aviva initiative giving hope to families and transforming communities through sensitizations that aim to reduce neonatal morbidity and mortality, while assisting families having severely sick newborns.
She was an Angel indeed.
Viva Aviva
PS: A newborn is a baby with age 0-28 days
-Dr Platine Nyuyki | HEALTHi FIRST | Open Dreams
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