Vast majority of premature babies born in Africa and Asia

The WHO reports, unsurprisingly, that most preterm babies are born in Africa and Asia. Africa and Asia are particularly known for their lack of resource to quality sexual and reproductive healthcare and high rates of sexual and reproductive ill-health, which accounts for 20% of the global burden of ill-health for women and 14% for men.

Preterm birth is defined as childbirth occurring at less than 37 completed weeks or 259 days of gestation. Preterm is a major determinant of neonatal mortality and morbidity and has long-term adverse consequences for health. 1–3 Children who are born prematurely have higher rates of cerebral palsy, sensory deficits, learning disabilities and respiratory illnesses compared with children born at term.

The WHO estimated that 9.6% of all births were preterm in 2005, which translates to about 12.9 million births definable as preterm. Approximately 85% of this burden was concentrated in Africa and Asia, where 10.9 million births were preterm. About 0.5 million preterm births occurred in Europe and the same number in North America, while 0.9million occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean.