Coronavirus could increase child deaths by 6,000 a day, UNICEF warns
جهينة نيوز -An additional 6,000 children around the world could die every day from preventable causes over the next six months as the Coronavirus pandemic weakens health systems and disrupts routine services, UNICEF said today as it launches the biggest ever appeal for children in its 73 year history.
Analysis of UNICEF figures by the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, published today in The Lancet Global Health Journal, looks at the worst of three scenarios in 118 low-middle income countries. The analysis estimates that an additional 1.2 million under-five deaths could occur in just six months, due to reductions in routine health services and an increase in child wasting.
These projected child deaths would be in addition to the 2.5 million children who already die before their fifth birthday every six months, threatening to reverse nearly a decade of progress on ending preventable child deaths.
The research highlights how in countries with already weak health systems, Coronavirus is causing disruptions in medical supply chains and straining financial and human resources. Visits to health care centres are declining due to lockdowns, curfews and transport disruptions, and as communities remain fearful of infection.
In the worst-case scenario, where health services are reduced by around 45 per cent, there could be as much as a 44.7 per cent increase in under-five child deaths and 38.6 per cent increase in maternal deaths per month. Services analysed included family planning, antenatal and postnatal care, child delivery, vaccinations and preventive and curative health care. The estimates show that if routine health care is disrupted and access to food is decreased, the increase in child and maternal deaths will be devastating, said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF's Executive Director.
//Petra// AG
Analysis of UNICEF figures by the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, published today in The Lancet Global Health Journal, looks at the worst of three scenarios in 118 low-middle income countries. The analysis estimates that an additional 1.2 million under-five deaths could occur in just six months, due to reductions in routine health services and an increase in child wasting.
These projected child deaths would be in addition to the 2.5 million children who already die before their fifth birthday every six months, threatening to reverse nearly a decade of progress on ending preventable child deaths.
The research highlights how in countries with already weak health systems, Coronavirus is causing disruptions in medical supply chains and straining financial and human resources. Visits to health care centres are declining due to lockdowns, curfews and transport disruptions, and as communities remain fearful of infection.
In the worst-case scenario, where health services are reduced by around 45 per cent, there could be as much as a 44.7 per cent increase in under-five child deaths and 38.6 per cent increase in maternal deaths per month. Services analysed included family planning, antenatal and postnatal care, child delivery, vaccinations and preventive and curative health care. The estimates show that if routine health care is disrupted and access to food is decreased, the increase in child and maternal deaths will be devastating, said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF's Executive Director.
//Petra// AG
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