Eugenics: Child deaths projected to rise for first time this century, as aid cuts reverse decades of progress
The world is a much better place than it used to be, especially for young children.
Insecticide-treated mosquito nets and novel treatments have made malaria much less deadly for millions of kids. Many countries now have the tools and techniques they need to nurse even very premature babies back to health. And the stupendous rise of vaccines against deadly diseases — like measles, diphtheria, and pneumonia — have prevented countless children from getting sick to begin with.
But after decades of progress in preventing child deaths, the world is now going in the wrong direction in the very worst way imaginable. According to newly released projections by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) done in partnership with the Gates Foundation, an estimated 4.8 million young children died before their fifth birthday this year. That would represent an increase of 200,000 from the year prior. It is the first time this century that child deaths have increased and it comes in large part as a result of massive foreign aid cuts from the United States and most of Europe, a policy change that has proved more immediately catastrophic for the world’s children than the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Global development assistance for health — which provides the mosquito nets, vaccines, and simple treatments needed to keep kids safe for a tiny fraction of rich countries’ budgets — plummeted by nearly 27 percent this year, according to the IHME.
If funding cuts of 20 percent persist over the next two decades, then 12 million more young children could die by 2045, as compared to a future where aid remains stable.
And if they continue at an even more drastic rate of 30 percent, the number of additional deaths could rise to 16 million, roughly the population of the Netherlands or four times the number of kindergarteners there are in the United States. [Continue reading…]