The United Nations global attack on hunger and disease among children is showing some promising results. That’s part of the good news, reported by the United Nations Children’s Fund as 1993 came to an end. It reported that 4 million children have been spared death from common diseases.
Now for the bad news: Some of these same diseases, including whooping cough and measles, still claim the lives of 8 million children under age 5 each year. The agency adds another grim statistic that should make the world shudder. In the wars raging in every corner of the globe, children are the main victims. In the past decade, the agency reports, 1.5 million children have died in senseless conflicts.
In addition, 4 million kids the world over have been disabled by war-related injuries. Ironically, many of these injuries are inflicted long after hostility ceases. In Cambodia, for example, children are among the victims who lost legs and arms to some 4 million land mines.
UNICEF says private and public immunization programs and social reforms have aided millions of children. But the agency notes that more has to be done. Measles, for example, still causes 1 million child deaths each year, though the number is down from 2.5 million a decade ago. The reduction shows the great strides the world body has made in its efforts to save vulnerable children.
