Bridging the gaps in child and adolescent health: reflections from International Congress of Pediatrics (ICP)

By Rachel Coghlan, Health Policy Advisor; World Vision International

“Fate has allowed humanity such a pitifully meagre coverlet that in pulling it over one part of the world, another has to be left bare” Rabindranath Tagore, 1893.

This old Bengali quote, used in a presentation by child health expert, Zulfigar Bhutta, summarises beautifully one of the key themes of this week’s International Congress of Pediatrics (ICP): Promoting equity in child health.

The ICP 2013, convened in Melbourne this week, and was underpinned by the theme ‘Bridging the Gaps in Child and Adolescent Health’. 

Held every three years, the ICP is the global meeting place for doctors, nurses, health care workers, and researchers in the field of child health. 
This was an opportunity for the pediatric community to focus on the unacceptable gaps that continue to exist in health outcomes for children around the world – the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ – and work together to seek new solutions to old problems.

With the deadline of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) looming, the congress featured many discussions on the current state of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable children, and the future of the MDGs and beyond, in tackling health inequities and ending preventable child deaths.

Experts called on the pediatric community to tackle areas which have so far been neglected in global health – for example, the survival of newborns, the health of adolescents, and early childhood development. 

The newborn period represents one of the most delicate periods in the life of a child.  Despite this, attention to newborn survival has been woefully inadequate, particularly in the poorest countries.  Over two-thirds of newborn deaths are preventable now, without the need for expensive, intensive care, if we only had the right political momentum and leadership. 

'...attention to newborn survival has been woefully inadequate, particularly in the poorest countries'.

Delegates were invited to be part of the consultations for the development of the Every Newborn Action Plan, a global platform for urgent action on newborn health due to be launched in 2014, of which World Vision is an integral part.

The pediatric community are a critical player in advocating access to quality health care, essential medicines, and prevention programs for all children around the world.  But paediatricians cannot tackle these issues in isolation.  We know that it will take the efforts of governments, leaders, health professionals, multilateral organisations, research institutions, NGOs like World Vision, and families and communities, to close the health gap for the world’s poorest women and children. 

The ICP this week, and Tagore’s quote from centuries ago, are timely reminders of the work we still need to do together to end preventable child deaths.
From 4 to 10 September 2013, World Vision offices will be calling on leaders to tackle inequities in maternal, newborn, and child health, through a Child Health Now mobilisation called “Close the Gap”.