UN: COVID-19 pandemic will lead to higher infant mortality from other diseases

The number of deaths among children under 5 was the lowest on record in 2019, at just over 5 million, down from 12,5 million in 1990, according to a new United Nations (UN) report. Writes about this CNN.

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But the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to undermine progress in reducing child and adolescent mortality, putting millions of lives at risk, according to Child Mortality Rates and Trends (2019 report released by UNICEF, World Health Organization, Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs United Nations and World Bank Group).

“We must not allow the COVID-19 pandemic to reverse remarkable progress,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Recent research by UNICEF and WHO has shown that the pandemic is disrupting child and maternal health services around the world, including antenatal and postnatal care, vaccinations and medical check-ups, due to limited resources and fear of contracting COVID-19.

“The global community has come too far towards ending preventable child deaths to let the COVID-19 pandemic stop us,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

“When children are denied access to health services because the system is overwhelmed, and when women are afraid to give birth in a hospital for fear of infection, they too can become victims of COVID-19,” Fore said.

“Without urgent investment in rebuilding broken health systems and services, millions of children under five, especially newborns, could die,” she added.

Of 77 countries UNICEF surveyed in the summer, 68% reported interruptions in health screening and vaccinations for children. A WHO survey in 105 countries also found that 52% reported disruptions to health services for sick children and 51% reported disruptions to programs to combat malnutrition.

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According to the WHO, such services are critical to prevent death of newborns and children, citing statistics according to which pregnant women who visit midwives are 16% less likely to lose their children and 24% less likely to have a preterm birth.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously jeopardized years of global progress to end preventable child deaths,” Muhammad Ali Pate, global director for health, nutrition and population at the World Bank, said in a statement. “It is important to protect the vital services that have played a key role in reducing child mortality.”

A UNICEF mortality report says newborns were at the highest risk of death even before the pandemic, with a baby dying every 2019 seconds in 13. They may be at a much higher risk of death due to disruption to essential health services due to the coronavirus, according to the WHO.

Johns Hopkins University, which has been tracking the pandemic since its inception, said simulations have shown that health disruptions from COVID-19 can cause nearly 6 more children to die each day.

While there has been progress in child mortality, the UNICEF mortality report also predicts that if current trends continue, 10 million children aged 5-14 and 52 million children under 5 will die between 2019 and 2030. year.

“Almost half of the deaths of children under five years of age will be newborns whose deaths could have been prevented by providing high-quality prenatal care, skilled birth care, postnatal care for mothers and their babies, and care for small and sick newborns,” it says in the report.

“Reducing inequalities is essential to ending child deaths and ensuring that no child is left behind,” the UNICEF report said.

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