PRIDE IN RUNNING issued the following announcement on June 30.s
Disruptions to health care and lack of food from COVID-19 are likely to cost the lives of at least 250,000 babies and young children and more than 10,000 mothers in low- and moderate-income countries over the next six months, according to a study from researchers at Johns Hopkins University.
The study, published in The Lancet Global Health, modeled how many extra deaths could be expected from COVID-19′s impact on the food supply and medical systems in these countries. The study found a dramatic increase in maternal deaths from the absence of childbirth interventions like antibiotics and clean birth environments. Children will be more likely to die from lack of nutrition, reduced availability of antibiotics for pneumonia, sepsis and rehydration solution for diarrhea, according to the study.
In the worst-case scenario, nearly 1.2 million additional babies and about 57,000 mothers would die across the 118 countries in six months, the research found.
“If routine health care is disrupted and access to food is decreased (as a result of unavoidable shocks, health system collapse, or intentional choices made in responding to the pandemic), the increase in child and maternal deaths will be devastating,” the study concluded. “We hope these numbers add context as policy makers establish guidelines and allocate resources in the days and months to come.”
Most US kids with multisystem inflammatory syndrome had been healthy
Original source here.
Alerts Sign-up