Additional 950 under-5 Nigerian children may die daily from preventable causes – UNICEF

A new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that an additional 950 Nigerian children could die every day from preventable causes over the next six months as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts routine services and threatens to weaken the health system.

The report also revealed that globally, 6,000 additional children under five could die every day.

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.

In a commentary to the Lancet report, UNICEF warned that these disruptions could result in potentially devastating increases in maternal and child deaths.

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

In the worst-case scenario, the estimate is that an additional 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 Nigeria, these potential child deaths would be in addition to the 475,200 children who already die before their fifth birthday every six months, threatening to reverse a decade of progress in ending preventable under-five child mortality in Nigeria.

“About 6,800 more Nigerian maternal deaths could also occur in just six months,” the report said.

Speaking on the development, UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore said that “lunder a worst-case scenario, the global number of children dying before their fifth birthday could increase for the first time in decades.

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Meanwhile, UNICEF Nigeria’s Country Representative, Peter Hawkins has stressed the need to protect women and children.

He said: “We must not let mothers and children become collateral damage in the fight against the virus.

“We have made steady progress in reducing preventable child and maternal deaths in Nigeria over the last 20 years, and it would be devastating if that progress is lost or reversed which will be devastating for Nigerian families, communities and for the country as a whole.

“The under-five mortality rate has declined gradually over the last two decades in Nigeria from 213 deaths per thousand in 1990 to 120 today.

“This is likely due to improved access and coverage of key life-saving interventions at primary health care and community levels and improved immunization rates.

“But, 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 estimates in this new study show that if, for whatever reason, routine health care is disrupted, the increase in child and maternal deaths will be devastating,” said Peter Hawkins.