WHO EMRO - Childhealth

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Countries may have policies concerning specific aspects of child care, for example on exclusive breastfeeding promotion, immunization, control of diarrhoeal diseases and acute respiratory infections, malaria control, essential medicines, primary health care.

However, most countries in the Region do not have written child health policies that provide a holistic view and unified approach to child health and development. Such policies would complement and bring together in one document all the main elements and issues related to child care, including both illness and healthy growth and development.

Examples of factors limiting progress include competing health priorities, inadequate investments in health, including human resources, health services and community interventions to improve childcare in the home and underutilized partnerships. In this environment, policies can provide clear long-term directions and commitments.

The child health policy initiative

To respond to this need, the Regional Office launched the Child Health Policy Initiative in October 2003. Five countries formally joined the initiative: Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic and Tunisia.

The initiative aims to assist interested countries in developing national child health policies, to establish a legal framework that gives clear long-term directions and support to improve the health status of children.

The policy document is recognized also as a requirement for long-term sustainability of interventions. It is expected to harmonize partners' actions and contributions, identifying priorities and laying out strategies and interventions to ensure equitable access to health care for everyone, including the most disadvantaged families.

The Child Health Policy Initiative proposes three main phases for the national child health policy development process:

Phase I: Situation analysis

Phase II: Policy document development

Phase III: Official adoption of the policy document

Since the foundations of a national child health policy should lie in an in-depth review of the current child care situation, the Regional Office has developed the document "Development of National Child Health Policy - Phase 1: The Situation Analysis", as part of the Child Health Policy Initiative.

The development of a national policy requires high-level political support within the health system to facilitate the process, including the management and coordination of all the required tasks.

The formal establishment of a Task Force at national level can help pursue this objective. The document developed by the Regional Office describes the terms of reference of the Task Force, its composition, including resource persons, and the possibility of setting up also a Steering Committee to advocate at the highest levels of the health system.