The United Nations has called on the authorities to create safe conditions for children before school starts. In 2019, before the pandemic began, more than half of schools in the world did not have a place to wash their hands with soap. In the current era of COVID-19, the opening of schools without such conditions should not be allowed.
The statement came from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
"Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the closure of schools everywhere has made it difficult for children to get an education and grow up healthy and prosperous. We must place great emphasis on children's education. We need to provide, ”said Herniyetta For, UNICEF Executive Director.
According to a new report, the lack of basic hand sanitizers in schools currently home to about 818 million children increases the risk of contracting COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. One-third of these children - 295 million - live in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is an undeniable fact that the long-term closure of schools will have extremely negative consequences for the safety, well-being and education of children. In this regard, WHO and UNICEF have called on governments around the world to strike a balance between isolation and socio-economic outcomes through the implementation of the necessary public health measures.
"The provision of clean water, sanitation and hygiene is important for effective prevention of infection, as well as the fight against it in schools," said WHO Director-General Tedros Gebreyesus.
According to him, this should be a priority in the run-up to the opening of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The authors of the report reminded that in schools in the poorest countries, children receive not only education, but also food and medical care. Today, 370 million children are deprived of this opportunity due to the closure of schools.
The United Nations has called on governments around the world to return children to school as soon as possible, but also to prevent the spread of the disease, to ensure social distance and hygiene.