Maria Wafula’s eighth birthday was on April 30. At 7.30pm on what was to be the great day, her father died from Covid-19 complications.
The girl’s mother, Nehema Wafula, says the difference in timing between Maria’s birth and her father’s death was five minutes.
Maria is one of the 4,712 children in Kenya coping with the loss of a mother, father or both parents to coronavirus.
According to a study published in the Lancet medical journal, some 1.5 million children worldwide have lost a parent, custodial grandparent or grandparent who provided the child a home and basic needs.
The study relies on research by the Centre for Disease Control, an American agency, and other affiliations.
It was conducted in 21 countries from March 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021.
Countries with the highest number of children orphaned by the virus include Peru (10·2 per 1,000), South Africa (5·1), Mexico (3·5), Brazil (2·4), Colombia (2·3), Iran (1·7), the US (1·5), Argentina (1·1) and Russia (one).
From the study, 3,574 children have lost their fathers, 738 their mothers while 400 been left orphans by the virus in Kenya.
Kenya stands at 0.4 per 1,000 children. The country has recorded 5,273 deaths since the virus was first reported in Nairobi on March 23, 2020.
Kenya has recorded 253,151 infections from 2.6 million tests.
A single mother of two children aged nine years and two weeks, succumbed to the virus last week.
Life has become unbearable for families that have lost primary breadwinners.
Covid-related deaths
Orphanhood is defined by Unicef as death of one or both parents. The death of a caregiver can have devastating consequences.
Children losing primary caregivers have higher risks of experiencing mental health problems; physical, emotional and sexual violence; and family poverty which later raise the risks of suicide, teen pregnancy and infectious and chronic diseases.
“Orphanhood and caregiver deaths are a hidden pandemic resulting from coronavirus-associated deaths,” the report says.
The analysis used mortality, fertility and census data to estimate coronavirus-associated orphanhood and deaths of custodial and co-residing grandparents between April 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021.
“Orphanhood as a result of Covid-19 has not spared the United States,” said Susan Hillis, a CDC researcher and lead author of the study.
“All of us, especially children, will feel the serious impact of this problem for generations.”
The study found that deaths are greater in men than women in every country, particularly in middle-aged and older parents.
Estimates for age-specific average numbers of living children are higher for men than women, especially in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
Greater risk of neglect
“This, in combination with higher male death rates, helps to explain the greater number of paternal versus maternal orphans, which ranged from 1·6 to 5·9 times higher in the 21 countries,” the report says.
Compared to many of these children, Maria is somehow better as she still has a mother.
The parents of Erick Otieno, 11, and his four siblings died of the virus at Jaramogi Oginga Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kisumu county, last year.
Otieno’s mother, a greengrocer, was the first to die. Her husband was taken ill immediately she died. He remained in the ICU for months.
Fortunately, none of the five children caught the virus.
The children are being taken care of by their grandmother who is also the caregiver of three other grandchildren.
“These are my blood. I will do all I can to ensure they eat,” Ms Faustine Akello, who sells traditional liquor, told the Sunday Nation.
From the study, about 62 children being taken care of by grandmothers have been orphaned, 126 by their grandfathers are orphaned while 24 lost both secondary givers.
“The loss of one or both caregivers can have a detrimental impact on the nutrition, growth and development of children. It can put them at greater risk of neglect, violence and exploitation, particularly infants and young children from low-income families,” the study says.
However, there is no Kenyan-based information on the number of children being orphaned by the pandemic for now.
From June, when the study ended, more parents may have died.
In August, after the study was done, Kenya recorded more than 30 deaths, one of the highest and worst daily numbers since the pandemic began early last year. BY DAILY NATION