Nearly 1.5 million Children Lost their Parents due to Covid 19

A new study found that nearly a million children around the world have lost a parent to Covid 19, and a total of 1.5 million have lost either a parent, a grandparent who helped care for them, or some other relative responsible for their care.Dr. Susan Hillis of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Covid 19 Response Team, who worked on the study, said that the Covid 19 had created this urgent crisis affecting children in almost every nation.For every two Covid 19 deaths, one child faces the death of a parent or caregiver.

Researchers from the CDC, USAID, the World Bank, University College London, and elsewhere counted deaths in 21 countries that accounted for more than 76% of all Covid 19 cases. They used methods developed and validated years ago to estimate the number of children globally who would have been orphaned by AIDS to forecast the number of Covid 19 orphans.

Globally, from March 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021, we estimate 1,134,000 children experienced the death of primary caregivers, including at least one parent or custodial grandparent. They added 1,562,000 children experienced the death of at least one primary or secondary caregiver.Kids who lose a parent or caregiver are not only immediately stressed; they are also more likely to suffer diseases themselves, to be abused, and to suffer poverty. Hillis said that there are very severe consequences. She said that the consequences of all these adversities are often lifelong.

Children losing primary caregivers have higher risks of experiencing mental health problems, physical, emotional, and sexual violence, and family poverty. These adverse experiences raise risks of suicide, adolescent pregnancy, infectious diseases, including HIV/ AIDS and chronic diseases.Researchers said that the grandparents are more important than might initially be evident. In the USA, 40% of grandparents living with grandchildren serve as their primary caregivers; in the UK, 40% of grandparents provide regular care for grandchildren.