Indian Institute of Public Health-Delhi, Public Health Foundation of India, Gurgaon, Haryana, India.
Indian Pediatr. 2011 Dec;48(12):931-5. doi: 10.1007/s13312-011-0149-z.
Neonatal mortality rate in India is high and stagnant. Special Care Newborn Units (SCNUs) are being set up to provide quality level II newborn care services in district hospitals of several districts to meet this challenge. The units are located in some of the remotest districts where the burden of neonatal deaths and accessibility to special care is a concern. A recently concluded evaluation of these units indicates that it is possible to provide quality level II newborn care in district hospitals. However, there are critical constraints such as availability and skills of human resources, maintenance of equipment and bed occupancy. It is not the SCNU alone but an active network of SCNU (level II care), neonatal stabilization units (level I care) and newborn care corners can impact neonatal mortality rate reduction higher. Number of beds is also not sufficient to cater to the increasing demand of such services. Available number of nurses is a problem in many such units. An effective and sustainable system to maintain and repair the equipment is essential. Scaling up these units would require squarely addressing these issues.
印度的新生儿死亡率居高不下且停滞不前。正在建立新生儿特别护理单位（SCNU），以在几个地区的地区医院提供优质的二级新生儿护理服务，以应对这一挑战。这些单位位于一些偏远地区，那里的新生儿死亡负担和获得特殊护理的机会是一个令人关注的问题。最近对这些单位的评估表明，在地区医院提供优质的二级新生儿护理是可行的。然而，存在一些关键的限制因素，如人力资源的可用性和技能、设备的维护以及床位的占用率。能够降低新生儿死亡率的不仅仅是新生儿特别护理单位（二级护理），还有新生儿稳定单位（一级护理）和新生儿护理角构成的积极网络。床位数量也不足以满足对这类服务不断增长的需求。许多此类单位都存在护士数量不足的问题。建立一个有效的、可持续的设备维护和维修系统至关重要。扩大这些单位需要正视这些问题。
