COVID-19: Nigeria may lose 950 children under age five daily, says UNICEF

By Ajuma Edwina Ogiri

No fewer than 950 Nigerian children could die every day from preventable causes over the next six months following disruptions of  routine health services as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.

UNICEF warned that the disruptions that had weakened healthcare system could result in potentially devastating increase in maternal and child deaths as about 6,800 more Nigerian maternal deaths could also occur in six months.

According to the international organization, 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.

The analysis offers three scenarios of the potential impact of COVID-19 in 118 low- and middle-income countries, including Nigeria.

It adds that in the worst-case scenario, an estimated additional nearly 173,000 under-five deaths could occur in just six months due to reductions in routine health service coverage levels including routine vaccinations and an increase in child wasting.

“In countries with still overall weak health systems, like Nigeria, COVID-19 is causing disruptions in medical supply chains and straining financial and human resources. Visits to health care centres are declining due to lockdowns, curfews and transport disruptions, and as communities remain fearful of infection.

“The 10 countries that are most likely to witness the highest excess child mortality rates under the worst-case scenario are: Djibouti, Eswatini, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali, Malawi, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone and Somalia,” UNICEF said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Persecondnews.

“Under a worst-case scenario, the global number of children dying before their fifth birthdays could increase for the first time in decades.

“We must not let mothers and children become collateral damage in the fight against the virus,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, was quoted as saying.

Also, UNICEF Nigeria’s Country Representative, Mr Peter Hawkins, said the body had made steady progress in reducing preventable child and maternal deaths in Nigeria over the last 20 years, warning that it would be devastating if that progress is lost or reversed; devastating for Nigerian families, communities and for the country as a whole.

“What this study also shows is the critical importance of continuing to provide of life-saving services during these challenging times. We need to continue to deliver children into a safe pair of hands at a well-equipped clinic.

“We need to continue to ensure newborns receive their essential vaccinations and have their births registered; and we need to continue to ensure children get the essential nutrition they need to survive and thrive beyond their first day and throughout their childhoods.