Worldwide, 2.5 million newborns die each year. Most of these deaths occur in the first 24 hours and account for almost half of all childhood deaths with the highest risks and slowest progress being in Africa.

Newborn Essential Solutions and Technologies (NEST 360°) is a multi-country program that aims to reduce these deaths in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Nigeria by half by 2022. Most newborn deaths can be prevented by ensuring effective use of lifesaving medical technologies. NEST 360° endeavors to provide and make accessible devices selected to address the leading causes of newborn death, like breathing difficulties, infection, jaundice and hypothermia. These issues especially affect the most vulnerable babies who are born prematurely.

By integrating the use of readily accessible cost-effective rugged medical technologies with evidence based comprehensive newborn care; providing continuous clinical and biomedical mentorship; and using data to inform decision making, NEST360° aims to reduce inpatient newborn death by half.

NEST360° is also a multi-organization partnership which the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Rice University’s Rice 360° Institute for Global Health in the US, and the Malawi College of Medicine, as well as leading institutions across Africa. Initially focusing on Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria the partnership will make a lasting impact, working closely with governments, local health workers and universities.

In Kenya, NEST 360° is a collaboration between The Division of Newborn and Child Health (DNCH) at the Department of Family Health (DFH) Ministry of Health (MoH), Kenya Pediatric Association (KPA) through the Kenya Pediatrics Research Consortium (KEPRECON), KEMRI – Wellcome Trust Research program (KWTRP)and Center for Public Health & Development (CPHD).  NEST 360° is being implemented in 13 county and county referral hospitals. More information about NEST can be found on www.nest360.org