Premature birth is the leading cause of death among children under 5 years.
A new study, which counted and analyzed the causes of death of young children in the world, found that premature death now claims more lives each year than any single infectious disease.
Some 720,000 young children die each year because of health complications in premature births. Premature babies are at risk because their vital organs are often poorly trained when they leave the womb.
While the new study - published this week in the journal Lancet health - may not seem like good news, it is a sign that doctors are making progress in the fight against infectious diseases.
"The success we have seen in the ongoing fight against infectious diseases shows that we can be successful even if we invest in prevention and care of premature babies," Joy Lawn author of the study, a researcher at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said in a press release.
Vaccines, malaria prevention mosquito nets, antimalarial drugs, antibiotics, anti-HIV drugs and other medical advances have reduced the annual death are for children under 5 But now helped investigate the money will start to change the risk of premature birth and health in a better understanding.
"Some 7,600 newborns die every day," said Andres de Francisco, a spokesman for the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child. "We have an epidemic of premature deaths and newborns that one of the major challenges of the 21st century public health. "
Are some of the most premature deaths at birth are India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and China.
Study: Premature birth now leading cause of death for young children
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