Mothers, newborns, young children and adolescents are losing 20 per cent of their health and social services due to the Covid-19 pandemic across the world, according to the UN Secretary-General’s Independent Accountability Panel (IAP).

“Health systems in both rich and poor nations are massively struggling and the services for mothers, newborns, young children and adolescents are crumbling,” said Elizabeth Mason, co-chair of the UN Secretary-General’s Independent Accountability Panel (IAP) for Every Woman, Every Child, Every Adolescent reviewing the impact of Covid-19 on these groups.

“Especially worrisome are declines in access to life-saving vaccines for children and maternal health services due to closures and movement restrictions. Immunisation campaigns are being halted and health workers are being diverted from maternity to COVID-19 units,” Dr Mason added.

The Panel provided an overview of estimated impacts from COVID-19 pandemic on women, newborns, young children and adolescents since its start in January. The data  was disturbing.

The report said that 5.3 million deaths in children under 5 by pre-pandemic estimates, and over 400,000 additional deaths due to the infection-related disruptions in services.

Similarly, 2.5 million newborn deaths pre-pandemic, with a minimum of 168,000 additional deaths estimated while 295,000 maternal deaths were pre-pandemic, with an additional 24,400 additional deaths estimated. Atleast, 13.5 million children missed vaccinations against life-threatening diseases while more than 20 countries reported vaccine shortages caused by the pandemic.

Also, said the panel sround 42-66 million children risk falling into extreme poverty even as some 370 million children are missing school meals.

“These new findings show how weak our health systems are at protecting mothers, newborns, young children and adolescents,” says Joy Phumaphi, co-chair of the Panel and former WHO Assistant Director-General. “We are at a point where decades of progress for this group could be easily reversed.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted steady progress and has led to increased poverty and unemployment.

Early data finds women experience not only loss of various categories of support and social safety nets, but also an inability to access increased support, compared to men.