The 7th International Conference 2025 of the Bangladesh Neonatal Forum (BNF) was inaugurated on Wednesday afternoon at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre (BCFCC).
The theme of this year’s conference was “Quality Newborn Care at Facility and Home: A Pathway to a Healthier Future.”
Neonatal specialists, educators, and physicians attended the inaugural session.
Speaking at the event, the President of BNF Prof Mohammad Monir Hossain, said: “In Bangladesh, providing quality facility-based newborn care remains a significant challenge, primarily due to the shortage of skilled human resources. To ensure a healthier future for our newborns, we must intensify our efforts and reassess existing strategies to deliver accessible and quality care—both at healthcare facilities and in the home environment.”
Bridget Job-Johnson, deputy representative (OIC) to Unicef in Bangladesh, said: “Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in reducing newborn and maternal deaths, yet we continue to lose a newborn every eight minutes before they reach one month of age—often due to preventable and treatable conditions such as prematurity, low birth weight, birth asphyxia, and infections.”
She noted that Unicef has supported the government of Bangladesh in strengthening newborn care through several initiatives.
"These include the establishment of Special Care Newborn Units (SCANUs), the expansion of Kangaroo Mother Care, improvements in oxygen therapy and healthcare infrastructure, and the promotion of community-based follow-up services—all aligned with the National Newborn Health Strategy," she said.
“However, these efforts must go further to reach every mother and child, especially those in the most hard-to-reach areas,” Bridget added.
She continued: “We must accelerate progress by supporting mothers and adolescents, improving nutrition, promoting healthy birth spacing, and raising awareness—so that preventable newborn and maternal deaths can be eliminated once and for all.”
National Professor MQ-K Talukder, the chief guest of the event, remarked: “Over the past 25 years, the neonatal mortality rate (NMR) in Bangladesh has decreased from 28 to 20 per 1,000 live births. However, our South Asian neighbor, Sri Lanka, has achieved an NMR of just 3.67.
"Despite numerous challenges in providing high-quality newborn care in a lower-middle-income country like ours, BNF has made commendable efforts to bridge this gap.”
Prof Nazmun Nahar, BNF’s chief adviser and founding president, said: “Although we have made significant progress, the neonatal mortality rate in Bangladesh remains concerningly high. I firmly believe that BNF serves as a valuable platform where experts from both home and abroad can collaborate under a shared vision to improve newborn healthcare and support the government of Bangladesh in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals well before the deadline.”
A total of 721 neonatal specialists from across the country, along with four international experts, will present their scientific papers during the two-day conference.
