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A recent study reveals another devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on children around the world.
Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital estimate that more than a million children may have been orphaned due to a death linked to COVID-19, according to their model published Tuesday in The Lancet. They defined orphans as the loss of at least one parent.
The authors estimate that 1.13 million children have lost a custodial parent or grandparent, and of these, 1.04 million have losta mother, a father or both. Overall, an estimated 1.56 million children have died of at least one custodial parent or grandparent, or other grandparent living with them.
The countries with the largest number of children who have lost their primary caregivers are the United States, South Africa, Peru, India, Brazil and Mexico.
“We know from our research that the loss of a parent or caregiver can turn children’s lives upside down and potentially affect their development if they are not in a stable family setting,” said the author of the study Chuck Nelson, professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital. .
To calculate the number of orphans associated with a pandemic, researchers used COVID-19 excess and mortality data from 21 countries that accounted for 77% of global COVID-19 deaths in 2020 and early 2021.
In the study, COVID-19-related deaths included deaths caused directly by COVID-19 as well as those caused indirectly by the pandemic through lockdowns, restrictions on gatherings and travel, reduced access or a willingness to seek or accept health care and chronic disease. .
“They drew attention to something that is often underreported and namely the survivors who remain in the family,” said David Abramson, a professor in the School of Public Health at New York University. “People don’t often think about how families react to events like this and the loss of parents is like a secondary crisis on top of the initial crisis.”
The study not only draws attention to the long-term consequences of the pandemic for families, but also to the future of their mental health, said Dr Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who has partially funded the study.
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Traumatic experiences, such as the loss of a parent or caregiver, are associated with an increased risk of substance use, mental health issues, and other behavioral and chronic health issues.
“While the trauma a child experiences following the loss of a parent or guardian can be devastating, there are evidence-based interventions that can prevent harmful consequences, such as substance use, and we need to make sure children have access to these interventions, ”said Volkow mentioned.
Nelson adds that the impact may be worse in older children, those placed in institutions or temporary situations, or struggling with mental health issues before the pandemic.
Children in disadvantaged communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic are more likely to experience its long-term effects as well, said Barun Mathema, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Although the pandemic may wane as more people get vaccinated, he said, officials must allocate additional resources to these communities in the future.
“It’s an intense time where there are extraordinary losses, there is extraordinary horror and then suddenly (the pandemic) is over,” Mathema said. “But the wounds persist.”
Follow Adrianna Rodriguez on Twitter: @AdriannaUSAT.
Patient health and safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial contributions.
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