Washington, D.C., February 25, 2025 (PAHO)- The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has translated the application of the "Pocket Book on Primary Health Care for Children and Adolescents into Spanish. Guidelines on health promotion, prevention and management of diseases from the neonatal period to adolescence", now available for download on Apple and Google Play Store. The app is also available in English, facilitating access to key guidance across the Region of the Americas.
This tool is intended for doctors, nurses and other health workers who are responsible for the care of children and adolescents at the first level of care. Its goal is to improve the diagnosis and management of common conditions that can be managed at the outpatient level and to help optimize the use of diagnostic methods, as well as the rational use of essential medications and equipment.
This initiative includes information that allows primary care providers to coordinate the ongoing care of children and adolescents with long-term conditions and illnesses managed by specialists. Preventive and promotional measures from the neonatal period to adolescence include counselling on the timing and content of child follow-up visits, promotion of early childhood development and health messages for adolescents.
The app also includes practical tools such as a medication calculator to facilitate and minimize errors in the calculation of doses according to weight, the automatic plotting of growth curves, the classification of the severity of conditions such as pneumonia, dehydration, croup and asthma exacerbation, as well as a tool for the indication of antibiotics for cases of acute otitis media.
The content of the app is based on information from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other guidelines based on scientific evidence. It will be updated regularly as new evidence emerges.
This tool arises from the publication "Pocket book on primary health care for children and adolescents. Guidelines on health promotion, prevention and management of diseases from the neonatal period to adolescence", currently available in English and soon in Spanish.
