The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Monday expressed the possibility of the deaths of thousands of children under the age of five in the next six months due to the indirect effects of the coronavirus.
UNICEF regional director Ted Chaibon told The Associated Press that the virus has hindered children's access to primary health care, making treatment of severe malnutrition, pneumonia and other diseases not possible.
The agency's forecast is based on a study done in May by John Hopkins University. It looked at the indirect impact of the epidemic on maternal and child mortality in low and middle income countries. UNICEF has expressed apprehension for children from 10 countries in West Asia and North Africa. Let us tell you that there are 4.1 crore children below the age of five in these countries.
It further stated that if primary health care was not available to the people, in the next six months, 51,000 more children under the age of five years could die, which is 40 percent more than earlier estimates. It also stated the concerns for the countries like Yemen, Sudan, Djibouti where the health care system was poor even before the epidemic.
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