Health

In the last 30 years, the number of child and maternal deaths worldwide has decreased by 59 per cent. However, despite this progress, in 2021 five million girls and boys died before their fifth birthday. Approximately 1.9 million babies are stillborn, and among those who are born alive, 6,400 babies under four weeks old die every day. This means that each year 2.3 million children don’t make it past their first month of life—that’s more than all the children in Canada under five years old.

Poor nutrition is often the source of these preventable deaths, deeply impacting women and children at every stage of their development. According to a World Health Organization report, malnutrition contributes to an estimated 45 per cent of child deaths worldwide. Among those who survive, an estimated 148.1 million young children in lower- and middle-income countries remain chronically malnourished, known as “stunted,” a condition that restricts physical growth and brain development.

Stunting that persists beyond the first 1,000 days of life—the critical window when good health, nutrition and nurturing care are foundational for children’s development—have life-long effects on their health, future learning and abilities to achieve their potential.

A staggering 45 million young children also suffer from wasting malnutrition with low weight for their height. This often results from insufficient quantity and quality of food, or infections that cause weight loss. The 13.7 million young children with the most severe cases of wasting are 11 times more likely to die.

Stunting and wasting are not the only threats to children’s good nutrition. Even before the pandemic, two out of five children suffered from anemia in lower- and middle-income countries, making them vulnerable to infections and inhibiting their ability to learn. The situation is even more dire for girls and boys in Africa, where three out of five are affected by anemia.

With Ukraine and Russia being top producers of wheat, fertilizer and fuel, the conflict between them further disrupted the strained global food system. This put nutritious diets even more out of reach for marginalized populations. Mid-2022 estimates hinted that the cost of life-saving therapeutic food to treat severely wasted children would increase by 16 per cent due to rising costs of the ingredients. Despite the concerted efforts of UNICEF and the suppliers of ready-to-use-therapeutic food (RUTF) to limit the rising costs, the weighted average price of RUTF still rose by nine per cent.

Every day, more than 800 women—the vast majority in developing countries—die from severe bleeding, infections and high blood pressure related to pregnancy and childbirth, with higher risks of complications among adolescent mothers than adult women.

Lack of proper nutrition can lead to iron deficiency anemia, which affects nearly a third of girls and women of reproductive age, robbing them of the energy needed for higher education, livelihood opportunities and full, productive lives. Severe anemia has the potential to double women’s risk of dying during or after giving birth.

More than 160 million women and girls of reproductive age would like to delay or prevent pregnancy, but can’t access contraception because of limited availability or social and cultural barriers that prevent them from making their own choices on the matter. Despite some degree of recovery among health systems in low- and middle-income countries after the COVID-19 pandemic, a World Health Organization survey completed in early 2023 found disruptions to family planning and contraceptive services showed very little improvement.

It’s also important to note that mental health challenges currently contribute to 14 per cent of the global burden of disease worldwide—and 81 per cent of this burden is hitting families in low- and middle-income countries where access to mental health and psychosocial support services are limited or nonexistent. The prevalence of anxiety and depression increased 25 per cent globally since the start of the pandemic, with younger people and females often reported at a higher risk of being affected.

Approximately 1.9 billion people live in fragile contexts and countries experiencing conflict, making access to healthcare and proper nutrition more challenging for the already at-risk population. By 2030, two-thirds of the world’s extreme poor will live in fragile contexts, and the majority will be children.

Children, youth and women are uniquely and disproportionately affected by conflict and fragility, whether through gender-based violence, inadequate nutrition, broken state-societal relations or insurmountable barriers to basic quality health services. These conditions represent a disproportionate share of the global disease burden, accounting for:

• More than 70 per cent of epidemic-prone disease cases, such as cholera, measles and meningitis.
• 75 per cent of maternal deaths.
• 43 per cent of deaths in children under five.
• Two-thirds of infant deaths worldwide.

Urgent action is needed to save lives and address immediate nutritional, physical and mental health needs. Now more than ever, the world’s health systems must be strengthened to reach communities in ways that are effective and resilient, while addressing the factors that drive fragility itself.