AFP/France 24: Pandemic threatens lives of millions of children: U.N.
“Disruptions to health services due to the pandemic are putting millions of additional lives at risk worldwide, the United Nations said Wednesday, warning that Covid-19 could reverse decades of progress in reducing child mortality. The past 30 years have seen remarkable strides forward in preventing or treating causes of infant deaths including premature births and pneumonia. … Last year around 5.2 million children died due to preventable illness, compared with 12.5 million in 1990. But it warned that the pandemic risked undoing all this by cutting routine child and maternal health services. A UNICEF survey across 77 countries found 68 percent reported at least some disruption in child health checks and immunizations…” (9/9).

Additional coverage of the U.N.’s warning is available from U.N. News, and an interview with Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi about the pandemic’s impacts on children is available from IPS.