Children : the hidden pandemic 2021 : a joint report of COVID-19- associated orphanhood and a strategy for action

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hillis, Susan ; Unwin, Juliette ; Cluver, Lucie ; Sherr, Lorraine ; Goldman, Philip ; Rawlings, Laura ; Bachman, Gretchen ; Villaveces, Andrés ; Nelson, Charles ; Green, Phil ; Flaxman, Seth
  More +
• Corporate Authors:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Harvard University. ; Imperial College, London‏. ; Maestral International. ; United States. Agency for International Development, ; University College, London. ; University of Cape Town. ; University of Oxford‏. ; World Bank. ; World Health Organization. ; World Without Orphans.
  More +
• Description:
  No country is unaffected by the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data on death and illness have clearly focused attention on the tragic and disproportionate burden among older adults - yet this has served to divert attention and understanding away from the needs of the world's children. History conveys clear lessons of how short-sighted it is to ignore children and their needs in a pandemic1. The ramifications are lifelong and inter- generational. As early as 2002 the HIV/AIDS epidemic provided a stark example: when parental death was examined, much of it was found to be clustered in the world's poorest social environments2. For children, the death of a parent, the loss of their caregiver and abrupt changes to their lives have a devastating and long-term impact on their economic, physical, and emotional welfare. The "Children on the Brink 2002"3 report, addressing the consequences of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, foresaw that an unprecedented crisis was underway and projected that international assistance would be needed for "at least two decades". That report informed a global strategy that addressed the needs of HIV/AIDS-affected "orphaned and vulnerable children" and provided many lessons in response, prevention, and care2. This year - 2021 - marks two decades of progressive reductions in HIV/AIDS prevalence, yet as a lasting legacy, there remain close to 14 million children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS. ; Today, the world is faced with another new and devastating pandemic that has left vast numbers of bereaved children in its wake, at an unprecedented speed. The COVID-19 pandemic had, by the end of April 2021, left over 1.5 million children experiencing the death of a parent or a grandparent caregiver who lived in their homes and helped care for them. Without immediate action, the COVID-19 pandemic is destined to leave millions more children orphaned. This is a critical moment to understand how COVID-19 will affect the lives of children, how lessons learned from prior emergencies can be adapted, and how an understanding of complex adversities can maximize the effectiveness of our response. ; "Children: The Hidden Pandemic 2021 - A joint report of COVID-19- associated orphanhood and a strategy for action" reflects the contributions of technical experts from all core agencies contributing as co-authors to the linked report in the Lancet, "Global minimum estimates of children affected by COVID-19-associated orphanhood and deaths of caregivers: a modeling study." (Published Online July 20, 2021. Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01253-8), prepared by the Global Reference Group on Children Affected by COVID-19: Joint Estimates and Action. ; Publication date from document properties. ; orphanhood-report.pdf?ACSTrackingID=USCDC_490-DM61693&ACSTrackingLabel=Hidden%20Pandemic%3A%201.5M%20children%20have%20lost%20a%20caregiver%20due%20to%20COVID-19&deliveryName=USCDC_490-DM61693
• Content Notes:
  PREFACE -- INTRODUCTION -- TOLL OF COVID-19 ON CHILDREN -- ENDURING IMPACTS ON CHILDREN, FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITIES -- A STRATEGY FOR CARING ACTION -- APPENDIX 1: Estimates by Country for COVID-19-associated Orphanhood and Death among Caregivers -- APPENDIX 2: Methods and Additional Regional Results -- REFERENCES.
• Subjects:
  • Betacoronavirus
  • Child Health
  • Child, Orphaned
  • Coronavirus Infections
  • Coronavirus Infections / mortality
  • COVID-19
  • Health Status Disparities
  • Pandemics
  • Pneumonia, Viral
  • Pneumonia, Viral / mortality
  More +
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Pages in Document:
  60 numbered pages
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/108199/cdc_108199_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 26.53 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:893a8ebfed6f5a98697e41a31040dd6eb60d7a4dd362446a9f63ce833d0140650441e4219cb8982eb48ec19495a4ac33a747b7cf2ed8e8f47d75165f8d7b7e66