Protecting children in low-income and middle-income countries from COVID-19

• Authors: Salahuddin Ahmed, Projahnmo Research Foundation, Bangladesh; Tisungane Mvalo, University of North Carolina Project Malawi; Samuel Akech, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya; Ambrose Agweyu, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya; Kevin Baker, Malaria Consortium, London; Naor Bar-Zeev, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore; Harry Campbell, NIHR Global Health Unit on Respiratory Health (RESPIRE); William Checkley, Johns Hopkins University; Mohammod Jobayer Chisti, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease and Research, Bangladesh (icddr, b); Tim Colbourn, University College London; Steve Cunningham, NIHR Global Health Unit on Respiratory Health (RESPIRE); Trevor Duke, Royal Children’s Hospital; Mike English, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme; Adegoke G Falade, University College Hospital, Ibadan; Nicholas SS Fancourt, Charles Darwin University; Amy S Ginsburg, University of Washington; Hamish R Graham, University of Melbourne; Diane M Gray, University of Cape Town; Madhu Gupta, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research; Laura Hammitt, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Anneke C Hesseling, Stellenbosch University; Shubhada Hooli, Baylor College of Medicine; Abdul-Wahab BR Johnson, University of Ilorin; Carina King, Karolinska Institutet; Miles A Kirby, Emory University; Claudio F Lanata, Instituto de Investigación Nutricional; Norman Lufesi, Malawi Ministry of Health; Grant A Mackenzie, The Gambia at LSHTM, Fajara; John P McCracken, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala; Peter P Moschovis, Massachusetts General Hospital; Harish Nair, NIHR Global Health Unit on Respiratory Health (RESPIRE); Osawaru Oviawe, University of Benin Teaching Hospital; William S Pomat, Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research; Mathuram Santosham, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; James A Seddon, Stellenbosch University; Lineo K Thahane, Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation; Brian Wahl, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Marieke van der Zalm, Stellenbosch University; Charl Verwey, University of Witwatersrand; Lay-Myint Yoshida, Nagasaki University; Heather J Zar, University of Cape Town; Stephen RC Howie, University of Auckland; Eric D McCollum, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• Journal Title: BMJ GLOBAL HEALTH
• Volume: Volume 5, Number 5
• Publisher: BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP | 2020-05-01
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002844
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery; Health Sciences, Public Health
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; child health; paediatrics; pneumonia; respiratory infections

Abstract

A saving grace of the COVID-19 pandemic in high-income and upper middle-income countries has been the relative sparing of children. As the disease spreads across low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), long-standing system vulnerabilities may tragically manifest, and we worry that children will be increasingly impacted, both directly and indirectly. Drawing on our shared child pneumonia experience globally, we highlight these potential impacts on children in LMICs and propose actions for a collective response.