Setting research priorities to improve global newborn health and prevent stillbirths by 2025
Vinod K Paul, Isabel Zuniga, Carl Bose, Mike English, Sarah Williams, Ben W. Mol, Christian F. Poets, Luís Nacul, João Paulo Souza, Elizabeth Molyneux, Anita K. M. Zaidi, Islam, Richard Luhanga, Erica A. Corbett, Peter Waiswa, Martias Joshua, Michael S. Kramer, Robert G. Clark, Frank van Bel, Patrick J. McNamara, Peter G. Smith, Tim Colbourn, Agustín Conde‐Agudelo, David Marsh, Uğur Dilmen, Fabian Esamai, Sajid Soofi, Carolyn Deal, Soofia Khatoon, Uma M. Reddy, Abhik Das, Laurensia Lawintono, Stephen D. Wall, Margaret Nakakeeto, David Osrin, William Keenan, Helle Kieler, Asiruddin, Christine Stabell Benn, Eve Lackritz, Antoinette Tshefu, Robert E. Black, Lorentz M. Irgens, Joy E Lawn, Po‐Yin Cheung, Rosemary D. Higgins, Christoph Bührer, Shahin Sultana, Donna M. Ferriero, Bhattacharya, Sohinee, Caroline Homer, Lauren Vestewig Gray, Dhana Raj Aryal, Peter Aaby, Joseph de Graft‐Johnson, Igor Rudan, Indira Narayanan, Wally Carlo, Nanbert Zhong, José Martines, Ramesh Adhikari, Tina Lavender, Rajiv Bahl, Hoque, Sachiyo Yoshida, Vineet Bhandari, Shams El Arifeen, Bolajoko O. Olusanya, Andrew E. Czeizel, Shinjini Bhatnagar, Catherine Y. Spong, Simon Cousens, José Guilherme Cecatti, Yanfeng Zhang, Sayed Rubayet, Mathuram Santosham, Namasivayam Ambalavanan, Wei Wang, Natalia Schlabritz‐Loutsevitch, Linda L. Wright, Nalini Singhal, Zulfiqar A Bhutta, Tabish Hazir, Peter Gisore, Caroline Fall, Cyril Engmann, Douglas McMillan, Ashok K. Deorari, Miriam Mutabazi, Hannah Blencowe, Louise T. Day, Justin Brown, Mukasa, Ishag Adam, Mary Alice Smith, Abdullah H Baqui, Aluísio J. D. Barros
Abstract
BackgroundIn 2013, an estimated 2.8 million newborns died and 2.7 million were stillborn. A much greater number suffer from long term impairment associated with preterm birth, intrauterine growth restriction, congenital anomalies, and perinatal or infectious causes. With the approaching deadline for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015, there was a need to set the new research priorities on newborns and stillbirth with a focus not only on survival but also on health, growth and development. We therefore carried out a systematic exercise to set newborn health research priorities for 2013–2025.MethodsWe used adapted Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) methods for this prioritization exercise. We identified and approached the 200 most productive researchers and 400 program experts, and 132 of them submitted research questions online. These were collated into a set of 205 research questions, sent for scoring to the 600 identified experts, and were assessed and scored by 91 experts.ResultsNine out of top ten identified priorities were in the domain of research on improving delivery of known interventions, with simplified neonatal resuscitation program and clinical algorithms and improved skills of community health workers leading the list. The top 10 priorities in the domain of development were led by ideas on improved Kangaroo Mother Care at community level, how to improve the accuracy of diagnosis by community health workers, and perinatal audits. The 10 leading priorities for discovery research focused on stable surfactant with novel modes of administration for preterm babies, ability to diagnose fetal distress and novel tocolytic agents to delay or stop preterm labour.ConclusionThese findings will assist both donors and researchers in supporting and conducting research to close the knowledge gaps for reducing neonatal mortality, morbidity and long term impairment. WHO, SNL and other partners will work to generate interest among key national stakeholders, governments, NGOs, and research institutes in these priorities, while encouraging research funders to support them. We will track research funding, relevant requests for proposals and trial registers to monitor if the priorities identified by this exercise are being addressed.