HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS OF THE WORLD

• Recently, a series on Child and Adolescent Healthcare Systems of the World was published in the Lancet Global Health Journal.
• A series of four papers set out the current position, with the gains that have been made globally, which points out the stark variations in the global scenario, with some nations showing more marked improvements than others.

Major Findings of the Series

• According to estimate, over 8.62 million deaths occurred between 28 weeks of gestation and 20 years of age in 2019.
• Stillbirths (23%) and neonatal deaths (28%) together accounted for over half these deaths, while another one-third (32%) of the deaths occurred in children between one month and five years of age.
• It records the advancements as contributing to a fall in child mortality and morbidity.
• However, there are huge inequities, and several children and adolescents do not thrive or survive because low-cost interventions are not deployed to their benefit.
• The Covid-19 pandemic showed the devastating effects that gaps in care and education can have on children.
• Health and social systems must be better equipped to work together to address the emerging needs of children and families as part of the effort to rebuild equitable and resilient services.
• The challenges faced in responding to the needs of children and families during the Covid-19 pandemic should serve as a wake-up call to the global community, underlining the urgent need to transform the child and adolescent health agenda on a global scale.

Recommendations

• The series, while calling for efforts to reimagine the delivery of services that will help children thrive, mentions that a piecemeal approach, catering only to certain age groups may not be the best way to handle the crises.
• The authors call for comprehensive care that spans nutrition, preventive health, education, economic, and community support across age groups from preconception through the age of 20.
• The close involvement of families, particularly in offering support right from the stage of pregnancy, continuing through the relevant years allowing the child to bloom, is also recommended strongly.
• While calling for scaling-up of evidence-based interventions for children under five years,
• The authors highlighted interventions for school-going children and the period of transition from childhood to adolescence.
• This includes recommendations to support mental health, address unintentional injuries, non-communicable diseases, and neglected tropical diseases.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT