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.
Carrying Children Through COVID-19 and Beyond
Carrying Children Through COVID-19 and Beyond
For more than a decade, you’ve worked alongside us to call for a focus on children at the highest risk of deadly infections like diarrheal disease, pneumonia, and other health threats.
But even as we celebrate decades of progress, children and families now face the unprecedented threat of COVID-19’s cascading impacts: disrupted immunization services and supply chains, malnutrition, overwhelmed health systems, and worsening economies conspire to unravel progress. UNICEF calls COVID-19 the biggest threat to child progress in its 75-year history.
What if COVID-19 inspired us to build back better?
Pre-pandemic, global equity in child survival was an unfinished story. COVID-19 has uncovered and widened the gap; inequitable access to high-impact tools and other systemic failures that trap communities in a cycle of poor health and poverty persist.
Taken together, the successes of preceding decades and the weak points exposed by the global pandemic offer us a roadmap. We only need to choose it.
Targeted investments in tools like vaccines, hygiene education and water access, and essential medicines – basics of primary healthcare – are how we carry children and their families through COVID-19 and forge a brighter future beyond it.
No child should die from diarrhea because of COVID-19. No child should die from diarrhea, ever.
Use these resources to help us guide policymaker action.
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.
Petition: ORS+zinc co-pack
#DefeatDD
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.
Restrictions to nutrition access could result in 43,000 additional child deaths per month. Working together, we can fortify children against the indirect impacts of COVID-19.
Disruptions in supply chains due to Covid-19 could kill thousands of additional children every day.
#DefeatDD #vaccineswork
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.
#DefeatDD
In low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of diarrhea hits families the hardest, the impact of missed work, lost wages, and other indirect costs—on top of the direct costs of treatment—cannot be ignored.
Health workers do so much for us. They shouldn't have to face infection at work due to lack of hygiene facilities or protective personal equipment.
#COVID19 #DefeatDD
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.
https://www.defeatdd.org/blog/toilet-paper-hoarding-whats-it-really-about
#DefeatDD #COVID19 #sanitation
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.
#DefeatDD #COVID19 #TakeOnTyphoid #EndCholera
WASH and vaccines are a winning combination to protect families from acute and chronic infectious diseases.
#DefeatDD #COVID19 #EndCholera #TakeOnTyphoid
Poor health outcomes aren't just about an isolated infection. Direct care, transportation, and lost wages conspire together to burden families.
#DefeatDD #TakeOnTyphoid #EndCholera #COVID19
Many families are forced to choose between treatment and family finances when battling infectious diseases.
#WASHinHCF #COVID19 #DefeatDD #EndCholera
Around the world, health workers and patients run the risk of infections due to lack of sanitation and hygiene in health facilities.
#DefeatDD
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.
#DefeatDD #EndCholera #TakeOnTyphoid
Handwashing protects against COVID-19, pneumonia, diarrhea, typhoid, and many other infectious diseases.
Hand Hygiene for All: A call to action for universal hand hygiene beyond the COVID-19 pandemic
Aarin Palomares, Global Handwashing Partnership
https://www.defeatdd.org/blog/hand-hygiene-all-call-action-universal-hand-hygiene-beyond-covid-19-pandemic
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.
#endcholera #DefeatDD #TakeOnTyphoid #COVID19
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.
#DefeatDD #COVID19 #TakeOnTyphoid #EndCholera
Looking for hygiene ambassadors? Children are enthusiastic, approachable, amenable to change, and so very cute.
#DefeatDD #COVID19 #TakeOnTyphoid #EndCholera
Hygiene education is just as important as soap and water. Health workers like Meera play an indispensable role supporting communities.
#DefeatDD #HealthForAll #hygiene #COVID19
WASH in healthcare facilities creates a safe environment for both health workers and patients, especially during disease outbreaks.
#IA2030 #VaccinesWork #DefeatDD
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.
#DefeatDD #VaccinesWork
For every one excess COVID-19 death attributable to infections acquired during routine vaccination clinic visits, there could be up to 549 deaths in children prevented by sustaining routine childhood immunization in Africa.
Routine childhood immunisation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: a benefit–risk analysis of health benefits versus excess risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection
The Lancet Global Health
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(20)30308-9/fulltext#figures
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.
#DefeatDD
Beyond a vaccine against COVID-19, we must continue to deliver on the 100+ prequalified vaccines that exist already against deadly infectious diseases.
#DefeatDD #COVID19
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.
Blog: Finding inspiration from rotavirus vaccines as we rally against COVID-19
#DefeatDD #VaccinesWork
As the world races toward a COVID-19 vaccine, access must be top of mind. Lessons from rotavirus vaccine development can help.
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“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.
#DefeatDD #VaccinesWork #COVID19
Greater access to rotavirus vaccines result in fewer children hospitalized with deadly diarrhea.
Coordinate, integrate, invest: Integrating hygiene and routine immunization in Nepal
WaterAid and DefeatDD
#DefeatDD #EndCholera #TakeOnTyphoid #COVID19
A pilot program by WaterAid demonstrated that integrating hygiene education and routine immunization can improve the uptake of both prevention tools.
#DefeatDD #COVID19 #EndCholera
Immunization programs offer ideal entry points for hygiene education.
#DefeatDD #COVID19 #EndCholera
Local, uneven disease burden demonstrates the value of data in fighting disease.
1. equitable vaccine access
2. #WASHinHCF
3. A sufficient, well-trained, and well-equipped workforce.
https://www.defeatdd.org/blog/health-outcomes-must-be-matched-strong-health-systems-covid-19-and-beyond
#DefeatDD #TakeOnTyphoid
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.
The cascading burden of diarrheal disease: Revealing the hidden costs of ETEC and Shigella diarrhea
#DefeatDD #EndCholera #TakeOnTyphoid #COVID19
Infectious disease burden, shown here through ETEC and Shigella data, is frequently uneven within countries. High-burden pockets should guide policymaker priorities.
Figure 2. From preparedness and response to prevention and control
Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC)
#DefeatDD @SecGTFCC
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.
Maintaining safety and service provision in human milk banking: a call to action in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
Virtual Collaborative Network of Human Milk Banks and Associations
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.
PATH
Compiled by PATH, this list of technical and policy guidance supports evidence-based decision-making for maintain essential health services during a pandemic.
One by One: A coalition uniting governments, the private sector, philanthropists, and individuals to help put a stop to COVID-19 and bring Africa closer to securing Health for All
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.