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How is Covid impacting India’s children?

With nearly 470 million children, India has the world’s largest child population. What can be done to to ensure their lives are not thrown into chaos?

With nearly 470 million children, India has the world’s largest child population. Campaigners say millions of them have been seriously impacted by the pandemic, including their access to medical care, food, shelter, schooling, and even means of livelihood.

Many are facing severe mental trauma due to confinement and isolation at home, and a recent study says 577 were orphaned in less than two months during the second wave of the pandemic. Many children have also caught the virus, but thankfully complications have been rare.

The scale of the problem is daunting, but what can be done to ensure that children’s lives are not thrown into chaos? We discuss Covid’s impact and solutions needed to protect India’s children.

Presenter: Devina Gupta
Contributors: Sudarshan Suchi, CEO, Save the Children, India; Dr Indu Khosla, paediatric pulmonologist, SRCC Children’s Hospital; Akanksha Singh, parent

Available now

26 minutes

Last on

Sun 30 May 2021 04:32GMT

Image credit

A boy isolated in an independent room at a centre in Bengaluru (Credit: Meghana Sastry/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Broadcasts

  • Fri 28 May 2021 14:32GMT
  • Sat 29 May 2021 10:32GMT
  • Sat 29 May 2021 23:32GMT
  • Sun 30 May 2021 04:32GMT

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