IN an effort to curb the high infant mortality rate the first International Neonatal Nursing Excellence Award was handed to two exceptional nurses.

The nurses, Rekha Samant of India and Regina Obeng from Ghana, were behind the saving of infants, who might not have lived past one month.

The two received their awards yesterday at Durban's International Convention Centre, ahead of the 7th International Neonatal Nurses' Conference.

Each year 3,6 million newborns die worldwide. Three out of every four newborn deaths, occur in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, where there is a critical shortage of skilled health workers - both nurses and doctors.

"We initiated these awards because millions of newborn babies are dying every year in Africa and South Asia, when most of them could be saved by skilled health professionals," said Joy Lawn, the director of Global Evidence and Policy for Saving Newborn lives at Save the Children.