UNICEF Zambia representative Peter McDermott said that the situation of Zambia's children and youth "was threatened as never before," local media reports said on Wednesday.
McDermoot was quoted as saying that nearly 40 percent of children were chronically malnourished, with an infant mortality rate estimated at 112 in every 1,000 children. He said that the under five mortality rate was about 202 for every 1,000. "Most children in Zambia never reach their sixth birthday. The government, in fact, estimates that between 20-50,00 children are born with HIV/AIDS each year," he said.
McDermott said that over 600,000 children who manage to reach the age of five never attend primary school. "Hundreds of thousands of others are brought up in household of chronic sickness and death doing untold psychological damage to the young child. May I say that the situation is stark and getting worse," he said.
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