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Children’s health

All children living in Europe have the right to live and grow in an environment that allows them to reach their highest attainable level of health.

Children need clean and safe environments, housing, nutritious food, healthy lifestyles; they need friendly services (healthcare, education and care) that they can reach and can reach them; moreover, they need parents who can provide for their physical and emotional needs and to be able to raise them up free of poverty and social exclusion.

With respect to the latter, it has to be stressed out that adverse effects on children’s health due to their vulnerabilities are strongly aggravated by increasing socio-economic inequalities across the region in which children are born and grow up.

Just like for the general adult population chronic, communicable and non-communicable diseases are growing also among children population. Newborn and pre-school children are particularly vulnerable to various malpractices of physical and psychological nature, and infectious diseases, many of which are easily preventable or treatable. In addition, early childhood is a critical time. These early, formative years serve as the foundation for all of life’s later endeavours.

Last but not least, making progress on reducing threats and promoting children’s health, moves the European region closer to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly goals 3 and 4 on child mortality and maternal health.

EPHA has chosen children’s health as one of its cross-crutting strategic priorities for 2011-2014.

We present in this section information on EU early childhood policies, such as poverty interventions, policies to support interventions that reduce childhood mortality in the WHO European region, including accidents and injuries, and policies that address health determinants of children in other places than at home, that is in public places and schools.

About: children and adolescents , poverty and health , Reproductive and sexual health , Nutrition Platform , accidents and injuries , childhood diseases , childhood mortality , Millenium Development Goals , youth , Immunisation , taxation , physical activity

18/06/2013

EPHA co-signs letter in support of WHO Europe Food and Nutrition Action Plan 2014-2020

On June EPHA, together with other 18 public health organisations, sent a letter to the director of the WHO Regional Office for Europe Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab in support of the WHO Europe Food and Nutrition Action Plan 2014-2020 currently under preparation. The organisations welcome a strategic approach towards comprehensive food and nutrition policies, whilst outlining the principles considered fundamental for the Plan. On behalf of the public health community, the signatories to this letter (...)
About : children and adolescents , food safety , food security , food, diet and nutrition , Healthy diets and food , WHO
14/06/2013

The European Year of Citizens Alliance (EYCA)

‘The European Year of Citizens Alliance (EYCA) is an open network of European and national civil society organisations willing to promote active citizenship as a core element of the European democracy in the context of the European Year of Citizens 2013.’ The EYCA On 11 August 2011, the European Commission proposed to designate 2013 as the “European Year of Citizens” to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the European Union Citizenship under the (...)
About : children and adolescents , European Citizens’ Initiative , Fundamental Rights , Health Inequalities , poverty and health , Social Issues , social policy , social protection
2/06/2013

[EPHA media reaction] Ireland’s move to implement tobacco plain packaging must resonate in Brussels

Brussels, 28 May 2013 – Today, the Irish government has approved, with not a single vote against, the drafting of legislation for generic packaging for tobacco. The legislation will be drafted by the autumn and is expected to come into force by early next year. Ireland will become the first EU Member State, and the second country in the world after Australia, to remove branding from tobacco product packaging (1). “There is a strong body of evidence (2), backed by wide popular (...)
About : Cancer , children and adolescents , European Commission , European Parliament , prevention , promotion , social determinants of health , tobacco and smoking , vulnerable groups
18/06/2013

[EPHA position paper] Revision of the Tobacco Products Directive

The new EU Tobacco Products Directive is an essential piece of legislation and can play a key role in achieving the objectives of “Europe 2020 – Europe’s Growth Strategy”: to keep people healthy and active longer, to help people prevent avoidable diseases and premature death and to have a positive impact on productivity and thus competitiveness. With this Directive, the EU has the possibility of changing the burden of disease for the new generation; by restricting (...)
About : Addictive and harmful substances and behaviours , children and adolescents , environment , European Commission , European Parliament , Health Inequalities , prevention , promotion , tobacco and smoking
1/05/2013

[Pre-announcement] Violence Against Children Report Cards to be launched

On May 30 the European Child Safety Alliance will launch Violence Against Children Report Cards for 29 European countries. This is the first time that Violence Against Children Report Cards are being produced and released across Europe. The Violence Against Children Report Cards assess the extent of harm prevention measures provided to children by examining and grading the adoption, implementation and enforcement of national level, evidence-based policies addressing intentional injury to (...)
About : accidents and injuries , childhood mortality , children and adolescents , Children health , Health-promoting environment , prevention , social determinants of health , Transport , vulnerable groups
25/04/2013

UNICEF Innocenti Report Card: Child Well-being in Rich Countries.

The Report card considers five dimensions of children’s lives: material well-being, health and safety, education, behaviours and risks, and housing and environment. The report is a good example of indicators to be taken into account when developing and monitoring policies that have direct and indirect effect on child well-being, including cross-sectorally. The paper key findings can be summarised as follows: The Netherlands is the leader and the only country ranked among the top (...)
About : beyond-GDP , childhood mortality , children and adolescents , Children health , exclusion , Fundamental Rights , well being
16/04/2013

[Public Statement] International Romani Day - the curse of being Roma in Europe and getting proper healthcare

It is high time for the EU and national leaders to fix all what is wrong with the social factors that trap the Roma population in a vicious cycle of ill-health. Policy-makers can do a better job to make sure that Roma people across Europe do not have to endure an additional series of obstacles to become healthy and productive members of the societies in which they live. Six million Roma live in the EU (1), in what represents Europe’s largest ethnic group. The Roma are one of the most (...)
About : children and adolescents , Economic crisis , exclusion , Fundamental Rights , Health Inequalities , Roma , social determinants of health , social inclusion , vulnerable groups
29/03/2013

Children’s well-being: investing in a healthy future - a silent emergency in Europe

On 27 March, the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Daciana Octavia SÂRBU (S & D, RO) hosted a seminar on child health, nutrition and education policies. In her speech, EPHA Secretary General Monika Kosińska highlighted why is it important to put child well-being at the heart of EU policies. In her speech, MEP Daciana Octavia SÂRBU (S&D, RO) stressed that good and healthy nutrition have a crucial impact on children life expectancy and that the role of the parents in (...)
About : children and adolescents , Children health , Economic crisis , equity , exclusion , housing , social determinants of health , social inclusion , social protection , vulnerable groups , well being
15/03/2013

[Save the date] International conference - Child Health Research: Key to a Healthier European Society

The RICHE and CHICOS projects, together with colleagues in TACTICS and EURO-PERISTAT, are hosting a joint meeting to celebrate European child health research, and launch their reports in Dublin in May, and you are invited! Join leading researchers and practitioners in child health, policy makers, advocates, and children, to help shape the future of child health research in Europe. Conference’s flyer Date: Thursday May 30th, and Friday May 31st 2013 Place: School of Nursing and (...)
About : childhood diseases , childhood mortality , children and adolescents , Children health , Health Inequalities , Neo-natal and pre-school children’s health , poverty and health , vulnerable groups
3/03/2013

Protection from second hand smoke improved, but still too high

A report by the European Commission confirms that the exposure to second hand smoke has decreased considerably since 2009, although the differences among countries are still important. In 2009 the European Commission adopted the Council Recommendation on Smoke-Free Environments, which called on Member States to "adopt and implement laws to fully protect their citizens from exposure to tobacco smoke in enclosed public places, workplaces and public transport" no later than November 2012. (...)
About : second-hand smoke , Addictive and harmful substances and behaviours , children and adolescents , Chronic Diseases , Non-communicable diseases , public health , tobacco and smoking

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