The consequences of losing a parent can be profound, but the right support can reduce the impact.
Credit: Jaipal Singh/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“I really appreciate this team’s effort to try to keep the issue of COVID-related orphans in front of the research and policy communities,” says Michael Goodman, an applied social epidemiologist at the University of Texas in Galveston. “We as a research community, as policy influencers — we as a society are not off the hook for these children.”
“For the child, it doesn’t matter to them at all what killed their parents,” says Hillis. “It matters to them that their parents are dead.”Losing a parent or carer can inflict life-long consequences on children; on top of their traumatic grief from the loss, orphaned children are more likely to experience mental-health problems, abuse and chronic illness. Despite the heartbreaking situation, Hillis says that governments and communities can make a difference if they act in time.
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