A sand art installation showing a child's face has been created by the Sand in Your Eye collective on a hill in Hebden Bridge, in northwest England.

The installation entitled 6,000 children aims to raise awareness that an additional 6,000 children could die globally every day as health systems are weakened and routine services disrupted due to COVID-19.

The image covers 11,000 square meters and is 110 meters long. The artists have painted 6,000 life-size figures of children playing, which form a child's face.

The project, supported by children's charity UNICEF, highlights the challenges faced by young people around the world, calling on global leaders to address their needs in global recovery plans from the pandemic.

It is a stark warning that almost a decade of progress on ending preventable child deaths could be reversed because of the pandemic.

"As a parent ourselves of young children, we were distressed to hear that so many children could lose their lives from preventable causes," say the artists behind the project.

"Statistics like 6,000 children losing their lives are difficult to comprehend, so we decided that we would paint them so people can see what that number really looks like," added the artists.

Coronavirus is causing disruptions in medical supply chains and straining financial and human resources in countries with already weak health systems. Visits to health care centers are declining due to lockdowns, curfews and transport disruptions and as communities remain fearful of infection.