In celebration of World Prematurity Day, the University Clinical Center Tuzla has just released a dozens of purple balloons in the air. According to the UN, every tenth child comes to the world early, respectively before 37 weeks of pregnancy. On this occasion, 10 babies socks, 9 in one and 1 in a different color were set up at the entrance of the Clinic for Children’s Diseases and the Department of Neonatology to show that that one baby in 10 is born premature.
The aim of World Prematurity Day is to raise awareness of the challenges and burden of preterm birth globally. Premature birth is the leading cause of neonatal death in developed and developing countries.
According to the World Health Organization, every year 15 million babies are born preterm and 1 million die before their fifth birthday.
Prof. Dr. Fahrija Skokić, neonatologist and medical director at University Clinical Center Tuzla said that out of 184 countries in the world, Bosnia and Herzegovina occupies 130th place of the prevalence rate. At the annual level of 4000 births, in the Tuzla Canton the percent of preterm babies is 7.4- 7.9%.
The first international awareness day for preterm birth on 17 November in 2009 was created by the March of Dimes Foundation (the US) with the European parent organizations European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants – EFCNI, which represents the parents of 20 European countries, Little Big Souls International (Africa) and National Premmie Foundation – NPF, Australia.
The World Premaurity Day 2017 motto is “Let them thrive!”