Cape Town – The Covid-19 lockdowns instituted since March last year focused on preventing and containing the spread of the virus and managing those at risk of severe disease – mostly adults. This led to the complex needs of children often being neglected.
The latest stats released by the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in its latest advocacy briefs highlight this.
On the lessons learned, the authors of the briefs – Shanaaz Mathews, Yolande Baker, Carla Brown and Joan van Niekerk – said: “Children are especially vulnerable during periods of upheaval such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
’’Their healthcare, development and quality of life are time-sensitive and depend on well-functioning services. Children’s needs cannot simply be placed on hold while other priorities are addressed.’’
In their introduction, they said: ’’The Covid-19 pandemic has had a direct and profound affect on children, even though they are less likely to spread the virus and are at lower risk of infection and serious complications than adults.
’’Yet the primary focus on adult Covid-19 care has meant that children’s specific needs were not adequately recognised, planned for or addressed in the healthcare system. This became increasingly evident as the health system became strained under the volume of adult infections, hospitalisations and deaths.
’’Much of the communication in the mass media has been adult focused. There is therefore an urgent need to develop child-centred materials and channels to communicate with children to address their questions, fears and concerns.’’
In one case highlighted, a 13-year-old said: “Coronavirus sometimes make me scared cause sometimes I can cough or have heavy breathing and I’m not sure if it is coronavirus or just my asthma. And if something like that has to happen to me it would affect my chest even more because it will give me heavy breathing.
’’And sometimes when I get too frightened, then my chest sometimes turns tight and then it could affect my chest even more.’’
While an assumption could be made, in most cases, that children would be safer at home under the care of their parents, especially under the level 5 lockdown, being confined to their homes resulted in “disrupted schedules and stressed parents, who were facing loss of income, potential joblessness or juggling working from home”.
“It is not surprising that we saw the highest increase in these injuries during the level 5 lockdown period, when everyone was confined to home,” said the authors.
Data from the Western Cape shows falls increased by 5% (more children falling out of attendants’ arms, falling off beds, falling down stairs), burns increased by 10% (85% liquid burns, mainly in the kitchen) and dog bites increased by 13% (mostly by family dogs). The lockdown measures “have the potential to increase children’s exposure to risks in the home for both intentional and unintentional injuries”.
Luckily, the combination of the lockdown and ban on alcohol sales meant children were far less at the mercy of drunk drivers.
The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital trauma unit showed a 15% decrease in the number of children treated for unintentional injuries during the lockdown, from 6 568 in 2019 to 5 647 in 2020.
The leading causes of child injury deaths in the country vary by age and include road traffic injuries (36%), homicide (28%), other unintentional injuries such as burns and drowning (27%) and suicide (8.5%).
Professor Michael Hendricks, of the department of paediatrics and child health at UCT, said despite families’ efforts to shield their children, child hunger has remained high, with one in seven households reporting a child went hungry in April 2021.
Professor Maylene Shung-King, a public health specialist at UCT, said: “The assertions by key experts for the advocacy briefs showed how the country overlooked the disastrous collateral damage on many aspects of children’s lives in response to the pandemic. Their needs were sidelined and these advocacy briefs highlight those.”
It is hoped the advocacy briefs will inform not only policymakers but anyone having to make decisions that affect children’s lives.
IOL