Carrying Children Through COVID-19 and Beyond

50 million children suffer from wasting, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition. This figure could increase by 9 million by 2022 because of the impact of the pandemic, making children more vulnerable to diarrhea and the long-term physical and cognitive stunting it can cause.

COVID-19 disruptions have limited access to breastfeeding support services, resulting in a decrease in global breastfeeding rates. Supportive family, peers, healthcare workers, employers, and policies are key to bringing rates back up.

Supply chains for essential medicines, like oral rehydration solution and zinc for diarrhea, are critical to protecting children from common and deadly infections that could see an increase throughout the pandemic.

Disruptions in supply chains due to Covid-19 could kill thousands of additional children every day. 

​​​​​​Since 1995, continued progress in the realm of child survival is thanks to high-impact, low-cost tools like vaccines and oral rehydration solution. Similar principles apply to COVID-19.

An additional 43,000 children around the world per month could die due to undernutrition during COVID-19 restrictions. 

70% of the African population depends on the informal economy for its livelihood. Direct and indirect costs, such as time away from work, can be financially devastating.

Toilet paper stockouts are now a regular fact of life in the US and other wealthy countries. But what if you didn’t have a toilet, period? Two billion people in the world do not.

WASH and vaccines are a winning combination to protect families from acute and chronic infectious diseases.

Many families are forced to choose between treatment and family finances when battling infectious diseases.

Around the world, health workers and patients run the risk of infections due to lack of sanitation and hygiene in health facilities.

COVID-19 is an opportunity to invest in sustainable WASH systems that can continue to function once funding is gone.

For disease prevention, policymakers must not overlook the provision of water, sanitation, and hygiene in healthcare facilities. 

​​​​​​Handwashing protects against COVID-19, pneumonia, diarrhea, typhoid, and many other infectious diseases.

UNICEF and WHO recently launched Hand Hygiene for All, a call for all people to have access to the supplies they need to clean their hands at critical moments and at key places. On our blog, Aarin Palomares from the Global Handwashing Partnership comments on what this would mean for health systems and our everyday lives.

We can't achieve universal health coverage if we don't address disease outbreaks like cholera, typhoid, and COVID-19 which will continue as long as WASH access is poor.

If hand hygiene is that effective, why isn’t everyone washing their hands? Rouden Esau Mkisi, PATH Senior Program Officer in Malawi, shares his insights.

WASH in healthcare facilities creates a safe environment for both health workers and patients, especially during disease outbreaks.

COVID-19 has been a stark reminder of the importance of strengthening routine immunization and primary healthcare, building national and sub-national capacities in epidemic preparedness, and laying the foundation for future disease and outbreak prevention. Immunization Agenda 2030 charts a way forward.

When COVID restrictions led to a drop in immunization rates, Integrated Health Days mobilized the health sector and the community together. Rates came back up, while clinics provided a bundle of health interventions for children and their parents, too.

New data recorded the largest decline in childhood immunization rates the world has seen in 30 years. Millions more children are now at risk of deadly, preventable diseases. PATH's Senior Advisor on Vaccines urges, "This information must spur action."

A risk-benefit analysis published in The Lancet Global Health projects that the benefits of sustaining childhood immunization visits in Africa vastly outweigh the risks of COVID-19 associated with clinic visits. For every one additional COVID-19 death that might be associated with exposure to the virus during routine clinic visits in Africa, an additional 84 deaths in children under five years of age could be prevented by continuing with routine vaccinations.

Beyond a vaccine against COVID-19, we must continue to deliver on the 100+ prequalified vaccines that exist already against deadly infectious diseases.

​​​​​Countries that have introduced rotavirus vaccines see fewer children hospitalized with deadly diarrhea. Routine immunization is one of the best opportunities to sustain community health through COVID-19 and beyond.

​​​​​As the world races toward a COVID-19 vaccine, access must be top of mind. Lessons from rotavirus vaccine development can help. 

​​​​​​“Children may be at relatively low risk from severe disease and death from COVID-19 but at high risk from other diseases that can be prevented with vaccines,’’ says Dr. Tedros, World Health Organization. Almost half of all infants still lack access to rotavirus vaccine, mostly in Asia.

​​​​Greater access to rotavirus vaccines result in fewer children hospitalized with deadly diarrhea.

Immunization programs offer ideal entry points for hygiene education.

Local, uneven disease burden demonstrates the value of data in fighting disease. 

Three health system “musts” for immediate and long-term efforts: equitable access to medical technologies like vaccines; WASH infrastructure in health facilities; and a sufficient, well-trained, and well-equipped workforce.

​​​​​​Infectious disease burden, shown here through ETEC and Shigella data, is frequently uneven within countries. High-burden pockets should guide policymaker priorities.

In Africa, 90% of cholera cases occur in hotspots occupied by less than 5% of the population. Deploying prevention and treatment tools where the burden is highest will ultimately yield a greater return on investment.

According to UNICEF, COVID-19 is the biggest threat to child progress in its 75-year history. Children should be first in line for investment and last in line for cuts. 

The Partnership for Maternal and Child Health's seeks to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from becoming a lasting crisis for women and children, while forging stronger primary healthcare systems as a pathway to Universal Health Coverage and fostering a more equitable world. The Partnership provides resources for governments and advocates.

When a mother's own milk is not available, WHO recommends pasteurized donor human milk as the first alternative. In The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, the Virtual Collaborative Network of Human Milk Banks and Associations called on global policy leaders and funding agencies to prioritize four high-impact areas:

(1) ensure neonatal nutrition is an essential focus during emergencies;

(2) fund research to optimize human milk bank systems in response to new infectious threats;

(3) invest in innovation across all aspects of milk banking processes to improve the responsiveness, access, and quality of donor milk provision; and

(4) support the integration of learnings and innovations by the global milk bank community during COVID-19 into newborn, nutrition, and emergency response planning for future emergencies.

​​​​​​Help Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance protect the next generation during the pandemic and beyond with vaccines against deadly childhood diseases like pneumonia and diarrhea.

​​​​​​Focused on the African continent, this campaign aims to disseminate World Health Organization messages, empower pan-African leaders with accurate information, and engage donors to invest in system-wide capacity building.