Global Child Health

Global child health focuses on issues that transcend national boundaries. It requires international cooperation, covers prevention in populations and individual treatment, emphasizes health equity, and needs inter- and multidisciplinary approaches within and beyond the health sector. Global under-five mortality was reduced by 59% from 93 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 38 per 1000 live births in 2021, but still, five million children die each year, most of these in the first month of life and occurring in low-income countries. Child health inequities are geographical, social, and gender-based, with considerable gaps in survival chances between countries, within countries, and across social groups. In the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, ambitious global targets were specified to reduce child mortality and enhance growth and development, recognizing equitable access to health services and the interdependencies between the different development goals. Children up to 18 must be placed at the center of these goals and targets. Current global challenges, such as climate change, conflict, and the devastating direct and indirect effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, reinforce this need. Continued progress in tackling these and other emerging threats requires valid data for monitoring and prioritization. Good quality routine health system data are essential to observe the health system responses and resilience. Regular household surveys in low- and middle-income countries offer accurate maternal and child health data. Health and demographic surveillance systems provide valuable insights into the generation of health and disease and a frame for intervention studies. We illustrate some of these trends and challenges with the case of Bangladesh, one of the world’s most populous countries, which, despite poverty, climate change, and political turmoil, has shown impressive child health and nutrition achievements.