Publication: Burden of disability in children and adolescents must be integrated into the global health agenda
Authors
Cieza, Alarcos ; Kamenov, Kaloyan ; Gacto Sánchez, Mariano Luis ; Balasegaram, Mangai ; Chatterji, Somnath ; Lincetto, Ornella ; Servili, Chiara ; Bermejo, Raoul ; Ross, David
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Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
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DOI
10.1136/bmj.n9
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info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Description
Abstract
Disability has low priority in the general agenda of child and adolescent health. Although one billion people have some form of disability, people with disability are among the world’s most marginalised and discriminated against groups. Driven by global goals, most countries have focused primarily on reducing childhood mortality, leaving disability low in their priorities. Few countries provide adequate quality services. There are at least three good reasons why countries urgently need to tackle this.
Firstly, the number of people living with disability is set to increase dramatically because of epidemiological and demographic trends, such as the relatively young populations of low income countries. These trends are usually considered in terms of increasing disability among older people with chronic conditions, rather than among children. With child survival increasing but not all children who survive being able to thrive, more children will need health services to optimise their developmental outcomes. However, most health systems lack capacity to deal with current needs of children with disability, let alone meet the rising demand.
Secondly, children with disability often need specific rehabilitation services related to their impairment or disability. Rehabilitation interventions—which can tackle impairments, functioning limitations, and restrictions such as mobility, vision, and cognition—can have a profound impact on functioning and wellbeing. Rehabilitation is often required for considerable periods of time. The limited evidence available shows major gaps and unmet needs for such services, particularly in low income countries.
Lastly, access to appropriate care is a fundamental human right. Children with disability repeatedly face barriers to care, including physical ones, causing much suffering, hardship, and isolation. But the greatest obstacles they encounter are negative or ill informed attitudes. Without a shift in attitudes, it is likely that they will continue to be denied access to care by health providers.
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Citation
Cieza A, Kamenov K, Sanchez MG, Chatterji S, Balasegaram M, Lincetto O, Servili C, Bermejo R, Ross DA. Burden of disability in children and adolescents must be integrated into the global health agenda. BMJ. 2021 Mar 17;372:n9
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