Article Text
Statistics from Altmetric.com
The second European Perinatal Health Report from the EURO-PERISTAT project was released on May 27 of this year.1 Thirty indicators, compiled from routine statistics in 29 countries, are analysed and grouped into four main areas: fetal, neonatal and child health, maternal health, characteristics of the populations and healthcare. The report results from a 3-year collaboration between researchers, clinicians and official statisticians in Europe. It also contains data from two other European projects: Surveillance of Cerebral Palsy in Europe (SCPE) and European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies (EUROCAT).
Common definitions and inclusion criteria make it possible to overcome some of the differences between countries in the recording of births and deaths and improve the comparability of the data presented.2 ,3 Both results for the year 2010 and comparisons with the 2004 data published in the first European Perinatal Health Report are included.3
Between 2004 and 2010, fetal, neonatal and infant mortality decreased almost everywhere. Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands experienced the largest absolute declines in fetal mortality rates (a reduction of 1.4 per 1000 total births). Absolute declines in neonatal mortality were greatest in countries where rates were higher in 2004 such as some of the Eastern European countries. However, declines were also observed in countries with low rates in 2004 such as Finland and Sweden, showing that further decreases are still possible.
In some cases, these improvements followed public health actions deliberately undertaken at national level. In the Netherlands, the public debate following this country poor ranking in fetal and neonatal mortality with 2000 and 2004 data led to a series of policy efforts, including audits of perinatal deaths in term babies and establishing a national commission on perinatal care.4 Also, in 2007 prenatal screening for congenital anomalies was implemented …
Footnotes
-
Collaborators EURO-PERISTAT Scientific Committee: Gerald Haidinger (Austria), Sophie Alexander; (Belgium), Pavlos Pavlou (Cyprus), Petr Velebil (Czech Republic), Jens Langhoff Roos (Denmark), Luule Sakkeus (Estonia), Mika Gissler (Finland), Béatrice Blondel (France), Nicholas Lack (Germany), Aris Antsaklis (Greece), István Berbik (Hungary), Helga Sól Ólafsdóttir (Iceland), Sheelagh Bonham (Ireland), Marina Cuttini (Italy), Janis Misins (Latvia), Jone Jaselioniene (Lithuania), Yolande Wagener (Luxembourg), Miriam Gatt (Malta), Jan Nijhuis (the Netherlands), Kari Klungsøyr (Norway), Katarzyna Szamotulska (Poland), Henrique Barros (Portugal), Mihai Horga (Romania), Ján Čáp (Slovakia), Živa Novak-Antolic (Slovenia), Francisco Bolúmar (Spain), Karin Gottvall (Sweden), Sylvie Berrut (Switzerland) and Alison Macfarlane (UK). Writing committee for the 2010 European Perinatal Health Report: Jennifer Zeitlin, Ashna Mohangoo, Marie Delnord (Editors); Sophie Alexander, Béatrice Blondel, Marie-Hélène Bouvier-Colle, Nirupa Dattani, Mika Gissler, Alison Macfarlane, Karin van der Pal, Katarzyna Szamotulska and Wei Hong Zhang.
-
Contributors JZ, ADM and MD were editors of the European Perinatal Health Report 2010. JZ and MC produced a first draft of this editorial. ADM and MD carried out analyses of submitted data and provided substantive comments to the manuscript. Members of the EURO-PERISTAT Group contributed to analyses and interpretation of data.
-
Funding The EURO-PERISTAT project is co-financed by the Health Programme of the European Union Directorate General for Health and Consumers which also provides funding for SCPE and EUROCAT (grant number 2003131).
-
Competing interests None.
-
Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.