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An independent panel of experts last year declared the NHS to be the best healthcare system in the world. So why, as highlighted in a report published last year by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the National Children's Bureau ( www.tinyurl.com/ nejf77s ), does the UK have more child deaths than most of our Western European counterparts? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information about treating or managing severe bacterial infections in newborns and young infants. It discusses neonatal mortality, highlighting the risk of moderate-severe neurodevelopmental impairment in survivors of neonatal meningitis. Other information such as several initiatives to mitigate mortality from sepsis in young infants such as identifying clinical signs of severe illness is presented.

The article addresses the infant mortality rate in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics claimed that the country ranked 29th in the world in terms of infant mortality in 2004, a drop from 27th in 2000. The country's infant mortality rate is 50 percent higher than the national objective of 4.5 infant deaths per 1,000 births. One of the factors affecting the country's infant mortality rate is preterm-related infant mortality.

The article reports on the high child mortality rates in Stung Treng province in Cambodia. According to the article, Stung Treng's maternal mortality rate is 13 percent higher than Cambodia as a whole, while its infant mortality rate is 23 percent higher. In 2005, 2,405 births in the province were attended by traditional birth attendants (TBAs) however only 328 by professional midwives.