This archive report was first published on 13 May 2020.
According to a recent UN report, the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to divert scarce health resources in developing countries, potentially leading to a surge in preventable disease deaths in children under five.
Published in The Lancet Global Health, the study estimates that poor nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America could see an additional 1.2 million infants die over the next six months, a rise of almost 45%.
Maternal deaths could also increase by 40% in the same period, with an estimated 56,700 more deaths occurring beyond the 144,000 that already take place in 118 countries.
The findings were based on a computer model that calculated the impact of reduced access to family planning, antenatal and postnatal care, child delivery, vaccinations, and preventive and curative services.
“Under a worst-case scenario, the global number of children dying before their fifth birthdays could increase for the first time in decades,” said UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore.
“We must not let mothers and children become collateral damage in the fight against the virus. And we must not let decades of progress on reducing preventable child and maternal deaths be lost.”
The study identified the 10 countries that could have the largest number of additional child deaths as Bangladesh, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda, and the United Republic of Tanzania.
UNICEF is launching a new global campaign called “#Reimagine” to prevent the pandemic from becoming a lasting crisis for children and is issuing an urgent appeal to governments, the public, donors, and the private sector to respond.
