In many low-income countries newborn babies face difficult odds in living past the first month of life. About 3·8 million deaths occur every year in babies younger than 28 days—of which 99% are in the developing world—and deaths in the first month of life account for 42% of deaths in children younger than 5 years.1, 2 Before 2000, few organisations paid much attention to neonatal mortality. Since that year, several organisations have come to address the problem, including foundations, UN agencies, bilateral development agencies, governments of low-income countries, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). This wave of attention is surprising: there was no sudden increase in the number of babies dying or swift spread of a virus that alarmed citizens of rich countries. The emergence of attention to newborn survival in a short period of time presents an interesting study in how global health issues attract priority. In this paper, I examine the processes and factors behind the emergence of attention. I also identify challenges that proponents of newborn survival could face in advancing priority. In doing so, I aim to contribute to inquiry concerning how and why some global health issues attract attention, and what this means for the sustainability of priority.
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