Pandemic Estimates of Orphaned, Abandoned Kids Keep Increasing At least 25,000 children lost their mother to covid in the past year
An estimated 1.5 million children in 21 countries, including 119,000 in India, suffered the death of their primary or secondary caregiver between April 2020 and March 2021, according to a recent study.
Published in the Lancet medical journal, the study titled ‘Global minimum estimates of children affected by COVID-19’ estimates that 25,500 children in India lost their mother to covid in the past year, while 90,751 lost their father and 12 lost both their parents.
The study was published in collaboration with the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health. In a press release the NIH stated that “traumatic experiences, such as the loss of a parent or caregiver, are associated with increases in substance use, mental health conditions, and other behavioural and chronic health conditions.”