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Global study calls for urgent investments in services to support an estimated 1.5 million children worldwide who have lost a parent, grandparent due to COVID-19
By La Croix International staff | France
Some 1.5 million children across the globe have experienced the death of a parent or other relative who cared for them because of COVID-19 and are now more vulnerable to disease, physical abuse, sexual violence, and adolescent pregnancy, according to a new study published in The Lancet.
Of those, more than 1 million children experienced the death of one or both parents during the first 14 months of the pandemic, and another half a million experienced the death of a grandparent caregiver living in their own home, the study estimates.
Hence, children who have lost a parent or caregiver are at risk of profound short- and long-term adverse effects on their health, safety and wellbeing, say researchers who put together a report calling for urgent action to address the impact of such deaths on children into COVID-19 response plans.
"Children: The Hidden Pandemic 2021 – A joint report of COVID-19- associated orphanhood and a strategy for action" reflects the contributions of technical experts contributing as co-authors to the linked report in the Lancet.
"For every two COVID-19 deaths worldwide, one child is left behind to face the death of a parent or caregiver," said Dr Susan Hillis, one of the lead authors on the study, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team.
By April 30, 2021, these 1.5 million children had become the overlooked consequence of the 3 million COVID-19 deaths worldwide, and this number will only increase as the pandemic progresses.
"Our findings highlight the urgent need to prioritize these children and invest in evidence-based programs and services to protect and support them right now and to continue to support them for many years into the future – because orphanhood does not go away," Hillis said.
Before the pandemic, there were some 140 million orphaned children worldwide. These children have greater risks of mental health problems, family poverty, and physical, emotional, and sexual violence.
They are also more likely to die by suicide or develop a chronic disease, such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or stroke.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in more children facing the loss of a parent or caregiver. As older adults are most vulnerable to COVID-19, many children living in multigenerational families will have experienced the death of a grandparent.
Evidence shows that grandparents are increasingly playing key roles in providing care and financial support for their grandchildren worldwide.
"We have strong evidence from HIV and Ebola to guide solutions. We need to support extended families or foster families to care for children, with cost-effective economic strengthening, parenting programs, and school access," says study author Lucie Cluver, Oxford University and the University of Cape Town South Africa.
"We need to vaccinate caregivers of children – especially grandparent caregivers. And we need to respond fast because every 12 seconds a child loses their caregiver to COVID," says Cluver.
Before this report, there were no global figures to quantify how many children have been affected by the loss of a caregiver during the COVID-19 pandemic, either directly (due to the virus) or indirectly (due to another condition that was exacerbated due to the pandemic).
The study's researchers developed mathematical models using the best available data as an initial attempt to estimate the magnitude of this hidden impact of the pandemic on children.
The findings suggest that at least 1,134,000 children experienced the death of their mother, father, or custodial grandparents, because of COVID-19.
Of these, an estimated 1,042,000 lost their mother or father, or both.
Overall, 1,562,000 children are estimated to have experienced the death of at least one parent or a custodial or other co-residing grandparent (or other older relative).
Countries with the highest rates of children losing their parent or custodial grandparent included Peru, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Iran, USA, and Russian Federation.
In April 2021, in India, the second most COVID-19 affected country after the United States, researchers estimate an 8.5-fold increase in the numbers of children newly orphaned (43,139) compared to March 2021 (5,091).
Findings are likely underestimates
For almost every country, deaths were greater in men than women, particularly in middle and older ages. Overall, up to five times more children lost their fathers than lost their mothers.
Authors of the study point out that children experiencing COVID-19-associated deaths of parents or caregivers are at greater risk of family separation or being placed in orphanages or care homes. This should be avoided because it has negative effects on social, physical, and mental development.
"The hidden pandemic of orphanhood is a global emergency, and we can ill afford to wait until tomorrow to act. Out of control COVID-19 epidemics abruptly and permanently alter the lives of the children who are left behind. Tomorrow is too late for the child institutionalized in an orphanage, who will grow up profoundly damaged by the experience," says Dr Seth Flaxman from Imperial College London, UK.
Researchers say their findings are likely underestimates as figures of COVID-19 deaths may be underreported because of variability in testing and reporting systems.
"Our study establishes minimum estimates—lower bounds—for the numbers of children who lost parents and /or grandparents. Tragically, many demographic, epidemiological, and healthcare factors suggest that the true numbers affected could be orders of magnitude larger," says Dr Juliette Unwin, another lead author from Imperial College.
"In the months ahead, variants and the slow pace of vaccination globally threaten to accelerate the pandemic, even in already incredibly hard-hit countries, resulting in millions more children experiencing orphanhood," Unwin said.
The authors also note some limitations to their results. Their study is based on the best available data, but many countries do not have robust reporting systems for deaths or fertility. Additionally, data on country-specific prevalence of orphans before the pandemic was lacking.
Click here for the report Children: The Hidden Pandemic 2021.
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