Consensus on kangaroo mother care acceleration.

On Oct 21–22, 2013, stakeholders in newborn health convened in Istanbul, Turkey, to discuss how to accelerate the implementation of kangaroo mother care (KMC) globally. Focused attention on newborn deaths, which now account for 44% of under-5 mortality, is required to accelerate progress toward Millennium Development Goal 4 (to reduce child mortality by twothirds) and beyond. KMC has been proven to reduce newborn mortality, but only a very small proportion of newborns who could benefit from KMC receive it. The Istanbul convening was assembled to accelerate the uptake of this life-saving intervention. We affirm accelerating adoption of KMC, recognising that: