Healthy children, goal 2002: Save 100,000 lives

Washington, DC, November 21, 2002 (PAHO) -- Every year in the Americas, more than 200,000 children less than 5 years of age die from illnesses that can be easily prevented or treated. Acute respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, and malnutrition are the three leading causes of illness and death in this age group.

These diseases and others, such as those caused by vaccine-preventable diseases and malaria, are the primary reasons for medical consultation and hospitalization in these countries. It is estimated that these diseases cause 60 to 80% of the pediatric consultations in health services, and 40 to 50% of hospitalizations of children under 5. This overwhelming burden of suffering and death occurs in all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, but is more serious in countries where the infant mortality rates exceed 40 deaths per 1,000 live births.

"PAHO is convinced that this strategy should be the principal intervention of primary health care to reduce mortality from infectious diseases in children under 5," said Christopher Drasbek, regional technical advisor in Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) of PAHO.

IMCI is a world initiative headed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to reduce deaths and disease from the most common and foreseeable childhood illness.

In recent meeting of PAHO Governing Bodies, the Organization's member countries have recommended unanimously that the Organization fully support the IMCI strategy in the Region of the Americas.

PAHO launched the initiative Healthy Children: Goal 2002 to avoid 100,000 deaths of children under five in the Americas by 2002. To date, 17 countries have launched the Healthy Children initiative at local and national levels to improve the health situation of children and mobilize resources.

"Since the regional launching in December 1999, epidemiological monitoring in the countries has shown a notable reduction in infant mortality rates in the countries that are applying the strategy of IMCI," said Drasbek. "A first analysis of the data of mortality by countries of the Americas showed a higher reduction rate during the first year of the period encompassed by the initiative."

"The number of deaths from diseases in children under 5, projected by the IMCI strategy declined 19.5 percent from 1998 to 1999. This rate of decline is greater than previously observed (5.6 percent) and even higher that the drop required to achieve the proposed reduction of 100,000 deaths for 2002, which is 13.5 percent," said Drasbek.

IMCI is an effective, low-cost strategy to improve the quality of child health in health care establishments and in the community. It is based on simple interventions in public health, preventive measures at home and in the community, early diagnosis and effective treatment and strengthening of health systems to reduce the risk of childhood illness and to increase access to health professionals.

"Each country requires a unique combination of interventions that depends on the specific illnesses that affect that country," explained Drasbek. "The goal is to reach the three central components of IMCI: improve the skills of health workers, increase the capacity of the health system to give quality care, and develop good child health practices of families and communities."

In health facilities, the strategy promotes the exact detection of the childhood illness in ambulatory patient environments, ensures the appropriate combination treatment of all the serious illnesses, strengthens the orientation of caregivers and the delivery of preventive services, and accelerates referrals of critically sick children. In the household environment, the strategy promotes appropriate patterns of attention seeking, better nutrition, preventive care, and correct execution of the prescribed care.

By January 2001, IMCI had started in nineteen countries of the region. "In general, children are being evaluated for cough, diarrhea, and fever; health workers are verifying the vaccination status of children, and children are being weighed and families given preventive advice and an appointment for the next consultation," said Drasbek.

PAHO, which also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization, was established in 1902. PAHO is celebrating 100 years of work with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and raise the living standards of their peoples.

For more information, please contact: Daniel Epstein, Office of Public Information, (202) 974-3459, e-mail: epsteind@paho.org.

Related Information:
PAHO BOOKS:

• Why Should We Invest in Adolescents?
• Nutrition, Health, and Child Development: Research Advances and Policy Recommendations.