Washington: More than 1.5 million children in 21 countries, including 1,19,000 from India, lost their main and secondary caregivers to Covid-19 for the first 14 months of Pandemi, according to a study published in Lancet.
Partial funded studies by the National Institute of Narcotics Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), stated that 25,500 children in India lost their mother to Covid-19 while 90,751 lost their father and 12 lost their parents.
This study estimates that 1,134,000 children lost parents or custodian grandfather because of Covid-19.
Of this number, 10,42,000 children lost mother, father or both.
The most lost, not both parents.
Overall, 1,562,000 children are estimated to have experienced death of at least one parent or custodian grandfather or other friends (or relatively old), said in the media release.
Countries with the highest number of children who lose the main caregivers (parents or grandparents of the custodian grandfather) including South Africa, Peru, the United States, India, Brazil and Mexico, he said.
Countries with covid related deaths among main caregivers (> 1/1000 children) including Peru, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Iran, the United States, Argentina and Russia, he added.
“Although the trauma of child experience after losing parents or caregivers can destroy, there is evidence-based intervention that can prevent further bad consequences, such as the use of substances, and we must ensure that children have access to this intervention,” said Nida Director Nora D Volkow.
According to the report, 2,898 Indian children lost one of their custodian grandparents while nine lost their two custodian grandparents.
However, the loss rate of 0.5 primary and custodial parents per 1,000 children in India is far less than other countries such as South Africa (6.4), Peru (14.1), Brazil (3.4), Mexico (5.1), Mexico (5.1), Russia (2.0), and the US (1.8).
“When examining how variations based on sex and death age and the average number of children influenced by the estimates of PIWAI orphans versus Mother, we find that, with the exception of South Africa, greater death in men in every country, especially in The middle of the old and older parents, “said the report.