The Number of Orphaned Children Reaches an Alarming 10.5 million Globally from Jan 2020-May 2022

SOURCE: “The Number of Children Orphaned by COVID Keeps Rising” published by Scientific American – authored by Juliette Unwin.

Juliette Unwin is an epidemiologist in the School of Public Health at Imperial College London.

Summary:

As COVID-19 claims the lives of caregivers, the number of orphaned children steadily rises, reaching an alarming 10.5 million globally. Immediate action is imperative to prevent further suffering, with a focus on equitable vaccination, family-based care, and evidence-based strategies for protection.

Main Points:

Global Orphanhood Crisis: Over 10.5 million children orphaned by COVID-19 caregivers’ deaths from January 2020 to May 2022.
Enduring Consequences: Orphaned children face grief, inadequate care, reduced access to essentials, and heightened risks of violence.
Multi-Pronged Approach: Urgent measures include equitable vaccination, family-based care, and evidence-based protection strategies.
Global Initiatives: Some countries, like Peru and Brazil, are providing financial support and scholarships, but comprehensive global efforts are needed.
Adolescent Vulnerability: Two-thirds of affected children are adolescents facing distinct risks, emphasizing the need for age-specific support and interventions

Article:

The global impact of COVID-19 extends beyond infection rates and mortality, as a staggering 10.5 million children have lost primary or secondary caregivers to the virus from January 2020 to May 2022. Unlike the ebb and flow of infection waves, the number of children orphaned steadily rises each month, resulting in enduring consequences. Orphaned children face heightened risks of grief, inadequate care, separation from family, reduced access to essentials, and increased vulnerability to violence and abuse.

Addressing this crisis necessitates a multi-pronged approach. First, preventing caregiver deaths through equitable vaccination, disease containment, and treatment is crucial. Second, establishing safe and loving family-based care through kinship, fostering, and adoption is imperative. Third, protecting orphaned children requires evidence-based strategies to mitigate their increased risks of adversity and violence. These measures should be seamlessly integrated into national response plans for combating COVID and future infectious disease outbreaks.

Some countries are taking steps to address this issue. Initiatives in Peru, Brazil, Mexico, and California’s Santa Clara County provide financial support and scholarships to COVID orphans. However, global efforts are needed to comprehensively tackle the challenges faced by these children.

Estimating the number of COVID orphans involved assessing excess deaths worldwide, a complex task due to the difficulty in accurately determining these figures. The World Health Organization estimated 14.9 million excess deaths related to COVID in 2020 and 2021. UNICEF’s definition of orphanhood, a child losing one or both parents, acknowledges that the effect of a deceased parent can significantly impact a child’s well-being even if the other parent is alive. Adolescents, comprising two-thirds of children affected, face distinct risks, including sexual violence, mental health issues, teenage pregnancy, and educational disruption.

Regardless of age or gender, the loss of a primary caregiver brings lasting economic hardships and diminished social connectedness. As the pandemic persists, prioritizing safe, stable, and nurturing family-based care tailored to children’s ages and developmental stages is essential to mitigate the long-term impacts of orphan-hood. Acknowledging and addressing the reality of COVID orphan-hood on a global scale is a crucial step toward providing support to these vulnerable children.

The toll on these children is enormous. After a caregiver dies, children may experience grief, inadequate care, and separations from other family members.
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