Closing the gap in neonatal mortality with holistic care and partnerships

*Developed and funded by Chiesi

An Expert View from Philip Breesch, executive vice president of the CARE Franchise, Chiesi Group.

Last year, the neonatal community witnessed a first with the World Health Organization (WHO) officially marking World Prematurity Day. 2.4 million lives are lost yearly due to newborn mortality, a stark reminder that it’s time to act on WHO’s goal of reducing global neonatal mortality to 12 or fewer per 1,000 live births by 2030¹ .

Neonatology is woven into Chiesi’s identity. A source of pride, our approach is based on understanding that neonatal care is not only clinical, but deeply human. That’s why we believe that reaching the WHO targets can only be done through a holistic approach to neonatology enabled by partnerships across the complete healthcare value chain.

Going beyond the pill

Preterm birth is associated with intensive care units, vulnerability and a fight for survival. To provide better care, shouldn’t we aim to bring neonatology out of isolation and expand its boundaries into a continuum of care before and after birth? By examining different parts of the patient journey, we can identify gaps in areas ranging from pharmacotherapy all the way to beyond-the-pill support tools. This approach has focused our efforts on areas where the burden of disease is greatest and the therapeutic gaps are most profound.

Few therapies specifically target the diseases that result from early birth, leading to a continuous growth of the burden of prematurity-related conditions. One such condition is bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), the most common and consequential complication of extreme prematurity. ² We are working with Oak Hill Bio to address this unmet need and potentially advance the options for preterm babies; the program has expanded globally, with patients enrolled across North America, Europe, and most recently in Australia and Japan as part of an ongoing Phase IIb clinical trial. At the same time, examining the preterm birth experience has underscored a broader reality: improving outcomes for these infants will require more than a therapy.

Preterm birth remains difficult to navigate. Empowerment, knowledge access and emotional wellbeing are essential – yet still overlooked – components of neonatal outcomes. Powered by the Global Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (GFCNI) and supported by Chiesi, Neopedia is the neonatal care encyclopedia available to everyone. It widens trusted, science-backed information about pregnancy, prematurity, hospitalisation and home-care developed by medical experts and preterm infants’ parents for families.

No organization can solve neonatal challenges alone

Partnerships across the healthcare value chain are the enablers of our mission to reduce preventable deaths, improve standards of care, and strengthen early life health systems. Collaborations with medical societies and healthcare providers include trainings on new technologies in neonatal interventions, support to investigator-initiated studies as well as raising awareness on Kangaroo Mother Care (skin-to-skin), early breastfeeding, treating infections and other essential newborn care practices.

Our legacy obliges us to think how we continue building neonatology with new ideas to improve patient outcomes. We teamed up with innovation and venture capital networks EIT Health Innostars and Plug & Play to gather start-up, research and businesses ideas on how new technologies such as AI and machine learning can empower practitioners to shape new models of care in neonatology, especially those in underserved communities.

Too many hospitals worldwide still lack essential tools, and too many families face barriers that no parent should ever have to encounter. This is particularly true in low- and middle-income countries, where the vast majority of neonatal deaths continue to occur. Chiesi’s Global Health program addresses these critical gaps by expanding equitable access to essential neonatal medicines across Sub-Saharan Africa, through a sustainable business model that also invests in strengthening health system readiness.

With the right set-up and therapies in place, neonatal care in low-resource areas can be greatly improved. Through an evidence-based and catalytic approach, the Paolo Chiesi Foundation works to facilitate the introduction and scale-up of proven, high-impact solutions in neonatal care. By supporting neonatal & KMC units with capacity building, service strengthening and targeted training within the NEST model, they help create the conditions for sustainable change, placing babies and their families at the center of care. In this way, the Foundation strengthens local health systems long term and enables equitable access to quality care.

Supporting the most vulnerable lives, together

All these different pieces of the puzzle show that the future of neonatology is one of extraordinary possibility. Scientific breakthroughs, digital transformation, and global collaboration are reshaping care in the very first moments of life. That’s why we are calling clinicians, researchers, innovators, neonatal and civil communities around the world to collaborate across the patient journey and join us in moving towards the WHO goals. Because our vision is simple yet ambitious: a world where every newborn has the strongest possible start.

References:

1 https://www.emro.who.int/child-adolescent-health/newborn-health/prematurity.html

2 Thébaud B, Goss KN, Laughon M, et al. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2019 Nov 14;5(1):78 Homan TD, Nayak RP. Short- and Long-Term Complications of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia. Respir Care. 2021;66(10):1618-1629. doi:10.4187/respcare.08401

Veeva code and date: UK-CHI-2600229 | April 2026