UNICEF launches #Reimagine global campaign to prevent COVID-19 pandemic:Warns over 440,000 more children under five could die in next six months in South Asia

Kathmandu - 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, UNICEF said today. The estimate is based on an 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, due to reductions in routine health service coverage levels and an increase in child wasting.

The researchers estimate that in the next six months up to 300,000 children could die in India alone; 95,000 in Pakistan, 28,000 in Bangladesh, 13,000 in Afghanistan, and 4,000 in Nepal. “We fear that the number of children dying before their fifth birthdays is going to increase for the first time in decades,” said UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia, Jean Gough. “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,” said UNICEF Regional Health Adviser for South Asia Dr Paul Rutter.