Avellon Williams
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO – The United Nations said Tuesday that five million children under five died in 2021, urging healthcare investment in underserved communities around the world to avoid this “immense, intolerable and mostly preventable loss of life.”
Vidhya Ganesh, a specialist with the UN’s children’s agency, UNICEF said, “every day, far too many parents are facing the trauma of losing their children, sometimes even before their first breath.”
“Such widespread, preventable tragedy should never be accepted as inevitable. Progress is possible with stronger political will and targeted investment in equitable access to primary health care for every woman and child,” Ganesh added.
A total of 2.3 million deaths occurred in children’s first month in 2021, mostly as a result of premature birth or complications during childbirth. Infants are most vulnerable to infectious diseases after their first month, such as pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria.
According to the report, most deaths can be prevented through improved health care, vaccination, nutrition, and water and sanitation programs.
The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted vaccination campaigns, resulting in a two million decline in vaccination rates in 2021, and a six million decline in 2019 – an ominous sign for future child deaths.
