The Scottish Government is to introduce a new body to review and help bring down the number of preventable child deaths.

Despite a 32% reduction in the number of avoidable deaths among those aged under 18, there were still 218 avoidable child deaths in Scotland in 2017, according to the latest ONS figures.

Avoidable deaths include victims of violence or accidents and those born with birth defects, often linked to smoking or alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

During Topical Questions today in the Scottish Parliament, SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson queried what the Government was doing to reduce these deaths, citing calls from the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health (RCPCH) to implement a child death review process.

In response, Cabinet Secretary for Health & Sport, Jeane Freeman, announced her Government would establishing a national hub for the prevention of child deaths in March of this year “that is focused on overseeing the child death review process, to drive a reduction in child deaths which will start in full in early 2020.

“We are currently piloting this process within three health board areas with a further two pilots commencing later this year. We are investing £1mfrom April into this important work.”

She stated: “Minimising avoidable child deaths is a priority for the Scottish Government, as it should be, and we are committed to driving down the rate of child deaths in Scotland by learning from the review process and working with the RCPCH to ensure that we get the process right, and to ensure we are apply the learning across the whole of our health service.”

Conservative MSP and party health spokesperson, Miles Briggs, used his time in the chamber to focus on the 600 babies born addicted to drugs in Scotland over the past three years.

He questioned what action the Government was taking to implement the pre-birth approach to substance abuse recommended by former chief medical officer for Scotland, Sir Harry Burns.

The Cabinet Secretary highlighted a range of work her administration was undertaking, including the introduction of pre and post birth financial assistance, known as the best start grant.

Emphasising the importance of tackling smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy “in a non-judgmental way”, Ms Freeman praised the support provided by community-based midwives and health visitors that enabled people to make changes “that are critical for the healthiest possible births”.

She also highlighted recent strategies on tackling obesity and supporting expectant mothers to reach or maintain a healthy weight.