Child Health Week 12-19 November 2022 | #ThriveBeyondFive

DAY 1

Saturday, 12th November

Pneumonia and Routine Immunization (World Pneumonia Day)

No disease kills more children than pneumonia. It is responsible for the deaths of more under-fives than malaria, diarrhoea and measles combined. A child dies from pneumonia every 45 seconds. That is more than 700,000 children every year.

Almost all of those deaths are entirely preventable through vaccination, adequate nutrition and basic health services, including access to oxygen treatment at the primary healthcare level.

It is inexcusable that for a disease we have the power to prevent, diagnose and treat, the death toll continues to rise.

For Child Health Week, Save the Children calls on the EU and governments to end preventable child deaths from pneumonia, through equitable access to immunisation, prevention and treatment of wasting, and quality primary healthcare for every child.

DAY 2:

Sunday, 13th November

Essential Services and Universal Health Coverage

Health systems are the backbone of our societies. Without strong, quality health care and services, children are more susceptible to diseases, environmental shocks and the devastating effects of humanitarian emergencies.

Strengthening health systems is one of the most effective ways to transform children’s lives.

For Child Health Week, we are asking EU policy makers to take meaningful action, beyond words and promises, and strengthen health system services in the most affected countries.

Now more than ever, we need resilient health systems and well-supported health care workers, especially at the community level, to reach those children who are furthest away.

Investments in Universal Health Coverage should deliver effective and affordable health services to all.

DAY 3

Monday, 14th November

Adolescent Health and Nutrition

The world today is home to 1.2 billion adolescents – more than one in six people globally is aged between 10 and 19 years.

Yet, adolescents often fall through the gaps in service provision. COVID-19 has only exacerbated these challenges. With 1.2 million adolescents dying each year mostly from preventable causes, the world has been slow to reduce youth mortality.

This Child Health Week, Save the Children calls on the EU and governments to fully integrate adolescent health and nutrition services into national health systems and schemes.

Adolescents’ rights to health and well-being are central to delivering on key global commitments including Universal Health Coverage and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Despite this, adolescent health and nutrition are grossly underfunded and have not been adequately prioritised by donors or governments.

Investing in adolescents’ rights has the potential to deliver a triple dividend – improving their well-being now, enhancing their future life chances, and boosting outcomes for the next generation of children.

DAY 4

Tuesday, 15th November

Vaccination and COVID-19 recovery

Even though children have been mostly spared from the direct health effects of COVID-19, they suffer the most from its socio-economic impacts which will have lifelong effects for some.

For each COVID-19 death since the start of the pandemic, more than two women and children have lost their lives as a result of disruptions to health systems.

The COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled chaos in essential health and nutrition services leading not only to the rise in preventable infant mortality but to the backslide in routine vaccinations.

For measles alone, three million more children missed their first vaccine dose in 2020 compared to 2019. This was the largest increase in twenty years.

This Child Health Week, we must address a double vaccine equity gap and guarantee access to basic immunisation for all.

The global response to COVID-19 should serve as an example of how to increase routine immunisation and reach those furthest away.

It is important to continue to protect recent gains in child survival and ensure that the world's children are not left behind during the continued COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

DAY 5

Wednesday, 16th November

Nutrition as Health Determinant

Good nutrition matters. It is vital for a child to grow, thrive, and develop to their full potential. It is also vital in keeping children alive.

Undernutrition is one of the biggest killers of young children around the world. It can weaken the immune system, making children more susceptible to illness, leading to higher rates of child mortality. Undernourished children are more likely to grow into undernourished adults, who in turn are more likely to have undernourished children.

According to the last available data, 149 million children under 5 are stunted, while 45 million are wasted, close to 400 million children are deficient in micronutrients and the number of children over 5 who are overweight or obese had more than doubled since 2000.

Worldwide, at least 13.6 million children under 5 are suffering from severe acute malnutrition. No child should be dying from hunger in 2022. Not only are children’s lives at grave risk in this crisis, but so are their futures.

We don’t need to spend billions on researching a cure or developing a vaccine. We know how to treat malnutrition and we know how to prevent it. All we need now is a unified global response to stop this hunger crisis in its tracks.

This Child Health Week, Save the Children calls on the EU to integrate nutrition services into health systems as a critical component to achieve health for all. Early warning systems and sustainable development interventions that increase resilience and strengthen the capacity of national health, nutrition and social protection systems must be prioritised in the long term.

DAY 6

Thursday,17th November

Newborns and Primary Health Care (World Prematurity Day)

One million babies die on their first day. The day of a child’s birth, a day which should be full of joy and celebration, is the most dangerous day of their lives.

If we want to see real progress on child survival, we must focus on improving care around the time of birth and the first few weeks of life.

Proven and effective interventions could entirely prevent or cure 70% of newborn deaths. And there are many policy and funding actions that would easily trigger solutions and make serious inroads in reducing preventable newborn deaths.

For Child Health Week, Save the Children calls on the EU to do better and ensure there’s a clear commitment to prioritise essential services for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health.

This includes improving all aspects of care, from its availability to its affordability, for small and sick newborns, as well as for millions of women around the world who are not getting the care they need when giving birth.

DAY 7

Friday, 18th November

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

Worldwide 10-20% of children and adolescents are affected by at least one mental health problem. 50% of all mental health conditions start by age 14 and 75% by the time a person reaches the mid-20s.

Depression is one of the leading causes of illness, impairment and related disability among 10 to 19 years old, and suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in 15 to 19 years old, of which 77% occur in low- and middle-income countries.

For children in crises, the situation is even more stark: of the 420 million children affected by conflict, 35 million by displacement and 35 million by natural disasters, 22% of children are assumed to develop, at some point, a mental health problem.

On top of this, more than 80% of children and caregivers reported an increase in negative feelings due to COVID19.

Despite the alarming rates of poor mental health globally, governments have long underinvested in mental health care, leaving untreated up to 50% of recorded cases in developed countries and up to 85% in developing countries.

Addressing the psychosocial needs of children and adolescents should be an urgent priority. For Child Health Week, Save the Children calls on the EU to allocate investments and restructure systems to strengthen community-based, people-centred and recovery-oriented care.

Coordinating mental health care between the wider health, education and social welfare systems is essential to ensure accessible, affordable and quality services to meet the full spectrum of mental health needs of children and adolescents.

DAY 8

Saturday, 19th November

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (World Toilet Day)

Safe water, basic toilets and good hygiene keep children alive and healthy. Yet, more than half of the global population does not have access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

The lack of access to WASH services leads to diseases that kill the most children globally. Over 700 children under age 5 die every day of diarrhoeal diseases due to the lack of appropriate WASH services. In areas of conflict, children are nearly 20 times more likely to die from the diarrhoeal disease than from the conflict itself.

Early childhood mortality is not a permanent trap. There are many policy and funding actions that would make serious inroads in reducing preventable deaths.

For Child Health Week, Save the Children calls on EU policy makers to recognise WASH as an integral part of health and nutrition services and improve access to WASH services for children, particularly in schools and healthcare facilities, as a critical pathway to end preventable child deaths.