Prioritising health in the early years - launch of international statement

In a statement endorsed by the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and other academies and organisations from the UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the US, experts call for transformational changes to address the decline in children’s health and wellbeing.

To develop the statement, the UK Academy of Medical Sciences convened an international policy workshop that brought together over 40 participants, including researchers, parent contributors and policy professionals, to review current child health improvement initiatives, and to address inequities in each of the participating countries.

This international statement identifies five principles and actions to address the challenge of child health:

1. Children and families should be at the heart of developing solutions to better health, education, wellbeing, and equity. These solutions will require a unifying, cross-sectoral vision at local, regional, and national levels using evidence to inform decisions.
2. This unifying, cross-sectoral vision will enable governments to address the inequities, often driven by poverty, discrimination, racism, and other social determinants, which are leading to the decline in children’s health and wellbeing.
3. Transformational change will be needed over generations to improve child health and wellbeing, so policies and funding must be sustained and coordinated to tackle inequities.
4. We already have a strong evidence base to support some effective solutions, as highlighted in the Academy’s UK report1 and by participants at the workshop; policymakers should focus on implementing these solutions, working closely with children and families.
5. Researchers should work across borders and disciplinary boundaries to investigate the factors affecting the health and wellbeing of young children. This should be supported by effective, co-ordinated longitudinal data platforms (e.g. ECHILD2), to allow for nimble surveillance, evaluation of programmes and policies, and economic assessments to guide resource allocation decisions.

Read more on the website of The Academy of Medical Sciences here.