The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that the fight against the emerging coronavirus may have indirect destructive effects in poor countries such as the death of six thousand children a day in the next six months, calling for urgent action.
According to the worst-case scenario of three in a Johns Hopkins University study, up to 1.2 million children under the age of five in 118 countries can die within six months of impaired health coverage with efforts to combat the Covid-19 epidemic, according to a WHO statement.
These deaths will add to 2.5 million children in this age group who essentially die every six months in these countries.
During the same period, the number of pregnant deaths may reach 56,700 due to the decrease in antenatal and postnatal care, in addition to the 144,000 who are currently dying.
UNICEF Director Henrietta Four said the report would eliminate "decades of progress made in reducing child and maternal mortality." "We should not let mothers and children be additional victims of the fight against HIV," which has claimed 290,000 lives in the world, she added in a statement.
In countries with poor health systems, the Covid-19 epidemic disrupts drug and food supply chains and places pressure on human and financial resources, according to a study published in The Lancet Global Health.
The measures taken to combat the spread of the virus, including closures and curfews, in addition to restrictions on movement and population anxiety, reduce the number of visits to health centers and biomedical measures.
UNICEF noted that by mid-April, it was not possible to vaccinate more than 117 million children in 37 countries against measles as campaigns ceased due to the epidemic.
South Asia will be the most affected, followed by sub-Saharan Africa, South America, Bangladesh, India, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia.