Integrated management of the sick child
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Integrated management of sick children in developing countries addresses major causes of mortality. This WHO/UNICEF initiative provides training and guidelines to reduce child deaths from common illnesses.
Area of Science:
- Child Health
- Global Health
- Public Health Interventions
Background:
- Diarrhea, pneumonia, measles, malaria, and malnutrition cause over 70% of under-five deaths in developing nations.
- Existing health programs require integrated approaches for effective child healthcare.
- High child mortality rates necessitate improved management and prevention strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe an integrated management approach for sick children in developing countries.
- To outline the development and components of training materials for health workers.
- To highlight the potential impact of this intervention on child mortality.
Main Methods:
- Development of integrated clinical guidelines for outpatient settings.
- Creation of a training course for health workers covering case management and prevention.
- Ongoing development of supplementary training and support materials.
Main Results:
- A training course for outpatient health workers has been completed.
- The training integrates disease management with prevention strategies like breastfeeding promotion and immunization.
- Additional resources are being developed for inpatient care, medical education, and drug management.
Conclusions:
- The integrated management of sick children is a cost-effective intervention.
- Widespread implementation of these materials is expected to significantly reduce child mortality.
- This comprehensive approach addresses both treatment and prevention of major childhood illnesses.
Abstract:
Diarrhoea, pneumonia, measles, malaria and malnutrition account for more than 70% of deaths and health facility visits among children under 5 years of age in developing countries. A number of programmes in WHO and UNICEF have developed an approach to the integrated management of the sick child, which is being coordinated by WHO's Division for the Control of Diarrhoeal and Acute Respiratory Disease. Integrated clinical guidelines have been developed and a training course for health workers in outpatient (first level) health facilities has been completed. In addition to case management of these diseases, the course incorporates significant prevention of disease through promotion of breast-feeding, counselling to solve feeding problems, and immunization of sick children. Other materials to train and support health workers are also being developed: an inpatient case management training course, medical school curricular materials, a drug supply management course, and materials to support monitoring and reinforcement of skills after training. A planning guide for interventions to improve household management of childhood illness is also being developed. Since management of the sick child is a cost-effective health intervention, which has been estimated to have a large impact on the global burden of disease in developing countries, the completion of these materials and their wide implementation should have a substantial impact on child mortality.
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