Reducing Neonatal Mortality with a Three-Stage Neonatal Resuscitation Training Programme — China, 2004–2021

Neonatal asphyxia is a leading cause of neonatal death that is largely preventable with neonatal resuscitation techniques. In July 2004, China launched a 15-year, three-stage Neonatal Resuscitation Programme (NRP) with stages in 2004–2009, 2011–2016, and 2017–2021 ( 1). The objective of China’s NRP was to ensure the presence of at least one trained attendant proficient in neonatal resuscitation at every delivery. With consistent effort, both incidence and mortality from neonatal asphyxia decreased remarkably during 2003–2020: incidence decreased from 6.32% to 1.42% and mortality decreased from 0.76‰ to 0.19‰ ( 1– 2). China’s empirical experience shows that widespread promotion of high-quality neonatal resuscitation techniques can reduce preventable neonatal deaths and provide important insight into “ending preventable deaths in newborns by 2030,” as proposed in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal’s third target ( 3).