Due to Covid: Every 12 seconds a child is losing his parents

Ground Report | New Delhi: Due to Covid; The Covid pandemic has emerged as such a tragedy, the impact of which can be seen on everyone. Many people have lost their loved ones during this pandemic. Some have lost their employment and some have lost their future in the darkness of this pandemic. Something similar has happened with millions of children who have lost their parents and guardians to this pandemic.

According to recent research published in the journal  Lancet, between 01 March, 2020 and 30 April 2021, 15.6 lakh children have lost at least one of their close ones, who used to take care of them. These included his parents, grandparents, and other close relatives. It is estimated that more than 10.4 lakh children have lost one of their parents. In such a situation, these never-healing wounds have broken these children not only physically but also mentally.

If we look at the latest figures, more than 192 million people have been infected with this disease worldwide, while 41.5 lakh people have died. It is not a mere figure, it is the people who were someone's parents, someone's son-daughter, someone's brother and sister. Many of these have left behind children who today have no one to look after them. 

Due to Covid

This research is based on data from 21 countries of the world, including India, which are carrying 77 percent of the deaths due to Kovid-19. If we talk about the countries where the rate of children losing their parents and guardians is highest, Peru is the main among them, where 98,975 children have lost their parents. There the rate is 10.2 per 1000 children.

5 per thousand (94,625 children) in South Africa, 3 per thousand (141,132 children) in Mexico, 2 per thousand children (130,363 children) in Brazil, 2 per thousand (33,293 children) in Colombia, 40,996 in Iran, 113,708 in America Children, 29,724 children in Russia and 1.19 lakh children in India have lost parents and grandparents. 

 According to research, children who have lost their parents or guardians in this epidemic are at risk of having a deep impact on their health, safety, and future. Due to which the risks like disease, physical abuse, sexual violence, poverty are more likely to increase. 

According to statistics, even before this epidemic, about 140 million children were orphans. Those who were forced to face problems like mental and physical health, poverty, sexual violence. These children are at much higher risk of committing suicide or developing diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and stroke.

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