United Nations Children＊s Emergency? Fund (UNICEF) has warned that more than 400,000 children in South Asia could suffer from the coronavirus in the next six months.??
※An additional 2,400 children could die every day from preventable causes over the next six months in South Asia as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to weaken health systems and disrupt routine services across the region,§ United Nations Children＊s Fund (UNICEF) has said in a statement.
Almost a quarter of the world＊s unimmunised or partially immunised children 每 about 4.5 million children 每 live in South Asia.??
Sporadic outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles and diphtheria, have already been seen in parts of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.
The South Asia region is also home to two of the last polio endemic countries in the world - Afghanistan and Pakistan. Nearly 95,000 children could die in Pakistan, 28,000 in Bangladesh, 13,000 in Afghanistan, 4,000 in Nepal, the study suggests.
The numbers are based on analysis by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, newly published in The Lancet Global Health journal.??
Based on the worst of three scenarios in 118 low and middle-income countries globally, the analysis estimates that an additional 1.2 million under-five deaths could occur in just six months. This is due to reductions in routine health service coverage levels and an increase in child wasting, the UNICEF said.
UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia, Jean Gough said ※We must protect the mothers, the pregnant women and children in South Asia at all cost. Fighting the pandemic is critical but we cannot lose momentum on the decades of progress we have made in the region to reduce preventable maternal and child deaths. It is crucial that childbirth, child health and nutrition services remain available for families during the time of COVID-19.§
Furthermore the world body of United Nations,? UNICEF warns these disruptions could result in potentially devastating increases in deaths of mothers and children.
Vaccine stocks are running dangerously low in some countries as supply chains have been disrupted with travel bans and cancelled flights. The manufacturing of the vaccines has also been disrupted, creating additional shortages, says Paul Rutter, Regional Health Advisor for UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA).
South Asia could face yet another health emergency if children across the region do not receive their life-saving vaccine shots, the UNICEF said.As long as frontline health workers take the appropriate precautions, particularly washing their hands, there is no reason not to vaccinate 每 in fact, it is crucial that vaccination continues, says Rutter.
All Inputs PTI