Issue Thousands of children are killed every year as a result of fighting, from knife wounds, bullets, bombs and landmines, but many more die from malnutrition and disease caused or increased by war. The shortage of food supplies, the destruction of food crops, the separation of families, the movement of people into camps, the destruction of health services and water and sanitation systems all take a heavy toll on children. Many die as a result of less food intake, while others become unable to resist common childhood diseases and infections because they are so weak, hungry, and unclean. Their effects are increased during war, because malnutrition is likely to increase the chances of infection and over-crowding in camps causes the spread of disease.
War poses a great deal of risk for the unborn child.
Family and community breakdown, rapid social change, the breakdown of health services, increased sexual violence and rape, and malnutrition create a great strain on the mother which in turn affects the unborn child. Millions of children are killed by war, but three times as many are seriously injured or permanently disabled by it. The lack of health and support services and the destruction of health facilities during war mean that children living with disabilities get little support. Only 3 percent of injured children in developing countries receive proper care. In Nicaragua and El Salvador, only 20 per cent of the children needing new limbs received them.