The Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH) Discovery & Tools (D&T) team at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) requested a landscape analysis of interventions for neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), specifically those that show promise in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). HIE, or birth asphyxia, leads to neonatal death or developmental delays if not treated quickly. New interventions have shown promise in reducing both mortality and long term disability in children with HIE. However, in order to have the greatest global impact on morbidity and mortality, interventions must be effective in both high-income countries (HICs) and LMIC settings.
The START Center conducted a targeted literature search to identify studies that assess the effect sizes of current interventions to treat HIE in neonates, specifically those evaluated in LMIC settings. Select interventions included training programs to improve labor and delivery techniques, drug-based interventions, neonatal resuscitation, and therapeutic hypothermia. The team produced an Excel workbook with line listings of the high-impact studies related to neonatal HIE interventions and HIE burden. The workbook will be used by the MNCHD&T team to better understand what interventions may have the greatest impact on HIE in LMIC countries and to support the development of HIE burden models that forecast trends in target geographies.
