Covid-19 threatens to undo decade of progress in women and children's health, new report warns

The lives of women and children around the world have been put at renewed risk by the looming threats posed by conflict, climate instability and the Covid-19 pandemic, after years of progress, a new report has warned.

Essential services have already been disrupted by the pandemic and without intensified efforts to combat preventable child deaths, 48 million children under-five could die between 2020 and 2030, with almost half of these deaths occurring in newborns.

Maternal deaths are also set to soar and the number of additional child marriages, which  would otherwise not have taken place, will hit at least 13 million by 2030, the Every Woman, Every Child's Protect the Progress report warns.

Authors of the report warn that a decade of progress in improving maternal health, cutting child mortality and protecting the livelihoods of these vulnerable groups could easily be undone if governments do not act now to safeguard public health interventions and essential services against present and future crises.

“Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, a child under five years died somewhere around the world every six seconds,” said Henrietta Fore, Unicef Executive Director. “Millions of children living in conflict zones and fragile settings face even greater hardship with the onset of this pandemic.

“To save these lives, we must renew our efforts to ramp up disrupted health services, provide masks and gloves for health workers, and life-saving medicines and equipment,” she said.

The analysis, which was published on Friday, evaluates a decade of progress made in women’s and children’s health globally whilst highlighting the deep-rooted inequities which continue to deprive women, children and adolescents of their rights.

At the start of 2020, more children lived to see their first birthday than at any time in history and under-five deaths reached an all-time recorded low in 2019.

Maternal deaths declined by 35 per cent since 2000, and an estimated 25 million child marriages were also prevented over the past decade.

But progress did not reach every woman, nor every child, equally, and many of the hard-won gains in other areas have also proven to be extremely fragile, the analysis found.

In 2019, 82 per cent of under-5 deaths and 86 per cent of maternal deaths were concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

More than 7.4 million children and young people under the age of 25 died of preventable causes, and maternal, newborn, child and adolescent mortality rates were substantially higher in countries chronically affected by conflict.

The Covid-19 pandemic is also exacerbating existing inequalities and creating new ones via disruptions in essential health interventions and actions taken to control the virus that are disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable women and children.

Around 118 low- and middle income countries have reported more than 1.1 million additional child deaths and an additional 56,700 maternal deaths due to a reduction of essential maternal and child-health interventions since the coronavirus crisis began.

There has also been a surge in reports of abuse directed at girls and women, with an additional 31 million cases of gender-based violence documented over the six months of lockdowns.

Reversals in learning outcomes due to school closures have already affected 1.6 billion children, and an additional 150 million additional children have been plunged into poverty by the far-reaching socio-economic impacts of the pandemic.

“The Covid-19 pandemic threatens to turn back the clock on years of progress in reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health. This is unacceptable,” said Muhammad Ali Pate, Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank Group.

Partners of the Every Woman, Every Child movement said the findings were a call to action for the global community to fight Covid-19 while honoring and respecting commitments to improve the lives of women and children, without widening the gap between promise and reality.

"There is no doubt that the pandemic has set back global efforts to improve the health and well-being of women and children, but that should only serve to strengthen our resolve," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

“Our joint action under the Every Woman Every Child movement is more important than ever.  We now must renew our commitment to a healthier, safer, fairer and more sustainable world for women, children and future generations,” he said.

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