An additional 6,000 children could die worldwide a day from preventable causes over the following six months because the COVID-19 pandemic continues to weaken health systems and disrupt routine services, UNICEF said.
In Bangladesh too, uptake of critical health services for under-five children has reduced notably because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The service utilization for youngsters under 5 years old in March 2020 was down 25 per cent compared to March 2019.
“A large number of children could die from preventable and treatable conditions if the pandemic leads to substantial reductions in health service coverage. UNICEF is working closely with the Government of Bangladesh to help ensure that lifesaving care for children and mothers is available, safe and accessible,” said Tomoo Hozumi, UNICEF Country Representative in Bangladesh.
The uptake of maternal and newborn health services has also reduced, around 19 per cent. Additionally, key maternal health services like antenatal care visits and postnatal checkups in health facilities have reduced considerably, and deliveries in facilities have decreased by 21 per cent for the amount of January to March 2020 compared with October to December 2019.
Because of the pandemic, Bangladesh had to defer a measles and rubella immunization campaign targeting 34 million children aged 9 months to 9 years. Though routine immunization sessions continue, many outreach sessions are cancelled and therefore the transportation of vaccines remains challenging.
A new analysis projects that if there’s further reduction in health services in Bangladesh, quite 28,000 children under the age of 5 could die in next six months as an indirect results of the pandemic in worst case scenario. Wasting, a severe type of malnutrition, would be a major contributory factor to such under-five deaths.
While the health system has had to pay much of its attention to the COVID-19 pandemic response, which is incredibly important, UNICEF is additionally working with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to take care of routine essential maternal, newborn and child health services which have equally important consequences for youngsters and ladies. The Ministry has recruited more 2,000 doctors and 5,000 nurses to assist overcome the challenges. Additional investments in health are needed now over ever to strengthen the health system in Bangladesh.
The above-mentioned mortality estimates are supported an analysis by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, newly published in Lancet Global Health journal. Supported on the worst of three scenarios in 118 low- and middle-income countries, the analysis estimates that a further 1.2 million under-five deaths could occur in exactly six months, because of reductions in routine health service coverage levels and a rise in child wasting.
These potential child deaths will be additionally to the 2.5 million children who already die before their 5th birthday every six months within the 118 countries included within the study, threatening to reverse nearly a decade of progress on ending preventable under-five mortality.
Some 56,700 more maternal deaths could also occur in exactly six months, additionally to the 144,000 deaths that already occur within the same countries over a six-month period.
“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.”
In countries with already weak health systems, COVID-19 is causing disruptions in medical supply chains and straining financial and human resources. Visits to health care centres are declining because of lockdowns, curfews and transport disruptions, and as communities remain terrified of infection. during a commentary to the Lancet report, UNICEF warns these disruptions could lead to potentially devastating increases in maternal and child deaths.
The paper analyzes three scenarios for the impact of reductions in lifesaving interventions because of the crisis on child and maternal deaths. It warns that within the least severe scenario, where coverage is reduced around 15 per cent, there would be a 9.8 per cent increase in under-five child deaths, or an estimated 1,400 a day, and an 8.3 per cent increase in maternal deaths. within the worst-case scenario, where health interventions are reduced by around 45 per cent, there can be the maximum amount as a 44.7 per cent increase in under-five child deaths and 38.6 per cent increase in maternal deaths per month. These interventions range from birth control, antenatal and postnatal care, child delivery, vaccinations and preventive and curative services. The estimates show that if, for whatever reason, routine health care is disrupted and access to food is decreased, the rise in child and maternal deaths are devastating. the best number of additional child deaths are because of a rise in wasting prevalence among children, which incorporates the potential impact beyond the health system, and reduction in treatment of neonatal sepsis and pneumonia.
According to the modeling, and assuming reductions in coverage within the worst-case scenario, the ten countries that would potentially have the most important number of additional child deaths are: Bangladesh, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda and United Republic of Tanzania. the ten countries that are possibly to witness the highest excess child mortality rates under the worst-case scenario are: Djibouti, Eswatini, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali, Malawi, Nigeria, Pakistan, Nigeria and Somalia. Continued provision of life-saving services is critical in these countries.
