Lack of Basic Healthcare Kills 10 Million Children Annually

The Associated Press reports that over 200 million children worldwide do not have access to basic health care. As a result, about 10 million children, most from the developing world, die each year from treatable illnesses.

An alarming number of countries are failing to provide the most basic health services that would save lives, with 30 percent of children in developing countries not getting basic health intervention such as prenatal care, skilled assistance during birth, immunizations and treatment for diarrhea and pneumonia.

Wide disparities in health care for the poorest and best-off children are seen even in the highest-ranked countries, the report said.

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Use of existing, low-cost tools and knowledge could save more than 6 million of the 9.7 million children who die yearly from easily preventable or curable causes, the report [by Save the Children] said.

They include antibiotics that cost less than $0.30 to treat pneumonia, the top killer of children under 5, and oral rehydration therapy—a simple solution of salt, sugar and potassium—for diarrhea, the second top killer.

This is as much a failure on the part of the rich developed world as it is one on the part of governments in the developing world. In addition to financial aid, there needs to be a focused effort to help developing countries set up sustainable primary care networks in socially and economically disadvantaged areas.

Tags: healthcare, medicine, public health

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