Washington, DC, 20 November 2013 (PAHO/WHO) — On Universal Children’s Day, November 20, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) is urging families in the Americas to adopt healthy practices and habits in the home to help boys and girls reach their optimal physical and psychological development.
"There are a number of factors that support healthy childhood development, starting with affection, healthy bonding and protection and continuing with access to quality health services, having spaces to play, adequate nutrition and social inclusion,” says Dr. Gina Tambini, director of PAHO/WHO‘s Family, Gender and Life Course Department.
Parents and caregivers play a major role in promoting healthy childhood. Actions ranging from breastfeeding to ensuring that children are up-to-date on their vaccines and promoting healthy practices such as hand-washing, personal hygiene and sleeping under insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent the spread of malaria—all these are important to increase child survival.
Between 1990 and 2011, mortality among children under 5 in Latin America and the Caribbean fell by 65%, and neonatal (under 1 month) mortality fell by 55%. Neonatal deaths, particularly those that occur in the first week of life, represent 57% of all infant (under-1-year) mortality and 44% of mortality in children under 5, according to PAHO data.
Yet inequities in child mortality persist among the region’s countries. In Haiti and Bolivia, for example, under-5 mortality is 87 and 51, respectively, per 1,000 live births, compared with 8 per 1,000 in Chile and 6 per 1,000 in Cuba. Most neonatal deaths are preventable through access to quality care and low-cost, evidence-based interventions.
Ensuring quality care for all children and improving access to prevention require a multisectoral approach that fosters equitable access to health services centered on the first level of care and with attention to gender and cultural diversity.
"We should bring good health to excluded families, such as indigenous populations, people of African descent, displaced persons and inhabitants of remote or difficult-to-reach areas," says Tambini, adding: "There are international accords that define children’s rights, but they need adults to advocate for them."
PAHO/WHO works with the countries of the Americas to improve child health through a an integrated strategy that addresses health needs from pregnancy and childbirth through the first five years of life. It also seeks to improve training of health workers in case management, health systems and health practices in families and communities.
In 1954, the United Nations General Assembly recommended that all countries celebrate Universal Children’s Day by promoting activities for child well-being. November 20 marks the day when the U.N. General Assembly approved the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.
PAHO was founded in 1902 and is the oldest international public health organization in the world. It works with all of the countries in the continent to improve health and quality of life for the people of the region. It acts as the Regional Office for the Americas of the WHO and is also the specialized health agency for the inter-American health system.
Facts and figures
• Nearly 8 million children around the world die before reaching their fifth birthdays
• Approximately two-thirds of child deaths can be prevented with practical, low-cost interventions
• Almost 40% of all children who die before age 5 are newborns
Leading causes of deaths in children under 5 around the world (2011)
• Pneumonia (18%)
• Complications from premature birth (14%)
• Diarrhea (11%)
• Perinatal asphyxiation (9%)
• Malaria (7%)
• Other ailments (41%)
LINKS
Universal Children’s Day
http://www.un.org/es/events/childrenday/
Newborn and Child Health (PAHO)
http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=1108&Itemid=1084
PAHO’s Strategy and Plan of Action for Integrated Child Health
http://www.paho.org/hq./index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8595%3Aestrategia-y-plan-de-accion-para-la-salud-integral-del-nino&catid=1449%3Akmc-recent-publications&Itemid=1498&lang=en
Child Health (WHO)
http://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/topics/child/en/index.html
http://www.paho.org
http://www.facebook.com/PAHOWHO
http://www.youtube.com/pahopin
http://twitter.com/pahowho
For more information, please contact:
Leticia Linn, linnl@paho.org, Tel. + 202 974 3440, Mobile +1 202 701 4005, Donna Eberwine-Villagran, eberwind@paho.org, Tel. +1 202 974 3122, Mobile +1 202 316 5469; Sebastián Oliel, oliels@paho.org, +1 202 974 3459; Knowledge Management and Communications, PAHO/WHO – www.paho.org
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Sonia Mey, PAHO/WHO, Media, Public Information 525 23rd St., NW, Washington, DC 20037 United States
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