WELLINGTON, June 13 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Health Minister Jonathan Coleman said on Tuesday that the government is taking steps to dramatically reduce Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI).
This government believes in supporting women and families to have healthy babies who grow up to be healthy kids, Coleman said in a release.
The SUDI rate is approximately 0.7 in every 1,000 babies born, and 1.59 for every 1,000 Maori babies born, he said, adding that the goal is 0.1 in every 1,000 births by 2025.
By reducing the overall rate of SUDI by 86 percent and 94 per cent for Maori by 2025, the number of SUDI deaths would be reduced from 44 to six, Coleman said, adding that babies are at the greatest risk of SUDI in their first 10 months and that rates are higher for Maori babies.
The National SUDI Prevention Program will target two of the biggest preventable risks for SUDI, which are being exposed to tobacco smoke during pregnancy and having the baby sharing a bed.
"To support this new approach, we're investing an extra 2 million NZ dollars (1.45 million U.S. dollars) into the Program, taking its annual budget to 5 million NZ dollars (3.6 million U.S. dollars)," he said, adding that the program will better utilise innovative approaches to reduce smoking, including smoking cessation incentive programs which have proven effective in trials.
"Although evidence shows it's safest for a baby to sleep in a bassinette or cot. However, we know that in some families this doesnt happen. Thats why were supporting these families to have their baby sharing a bed as safely as possible," Coleman said.
"From September, we will be providing safe sleep devices (also called wahakura or baby boxes) to families identified as needing them during the babys first year of life," he said.
