Over 46,000 children in Uganda die annually to preventable diseases- UNICEF

A report from The United Nations Children Fund(UNICEF) has revealed that more than 46,000 Ugandans under the age of 18 succumb to preventable diseases annually making Uganda one of those countries with high children mortality rates around the globe.

According to the report on the state of children in Uganda 2022, the increased death rates are attributed to the decrease in the vaccination levels for the last two years with DPT vaccination dropping from 90 to 87 percent in 2021/2022.

Mr Tawanda Chinembiri, the social policy manager for UNICEF, while presenting the report to ministers, Members of parliament and other stakeholders in the protection of children during the Recovery and Resilience Dialogue for Children said Uganda has continued to register death of children to HIV/AIDs, teenage maternal deaths and infant mortality among others.

“Out the known 88,000 children living with HIV/AIDs only 68 per cent are on Antiretroviral (ARVs) drug, this puts the remaining 32 per cent at risk of losing their lives at a tender age,” Mr Chinembiri said.

“There has been a 10 per cent increase in newborn deaths in FY2021/2022 compared to FY2020/2021. At least 29 per cent of children are stunted and 46 per cent of the health service centres lack proper Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services which all contribute to the deaths among children.”

Speaking at the same event, the head of the delivery unit at the office of the Prime Minister, Mr Robert Kasule Ssebunya, said that nearly half of the maternal deaths are out of teenage pregnancies and 18 percent of the total births in Uganda are out of teenage pregnancies which risks the lives of the infants since the teenage mothers are not always to prepared to take care of their babies.

The UNICEF country representative, Mr Munir Safieldin, urged the government to ensure that the laws which protect children are implemented to ensure that cases of maternal deaths which result from sexual abuse are prevented.

“Children can only get justice and protection if we have more government spending on the enforcement of the laws that have been made to protect the children. Government should also inject more money in primary education to ensure that the 2.2 million children enrolled in schools every year are kept there,” he added.

Credit: Daily Monitor