SA Getting the Basics Right on Child Health

Child Rights organisations in South Africa are impressed that the country is on the right track on children’s health.
In spite of the many challenges the country faces with regards to resources and funding, the 4th Child Health Priorities Conference, held at the Wits Medical School from 31 October to 2 November 2013, said South Africa is getting the basics right on children health.
Organised by the South African Child Health Priorities Association, the annual conference drew together more than 150 health practitioners, policy makers, researchers and academics.
Under the theme Getting the basics right, delegates spent three days asking each other questions and sharing ideas on how best to make the voice of civil society heard on issues of child health.
World Vision used the platform to present some of the tried and tested solutions on how best to work and understand civil society organisation’s contribution to child health.
“The work is too great for one partner, surely we cannot do everything at once, as this group we have decided to zoom into what can be done now as a matter of urgency, ” said World Vision South Africa’s Advocacy Advisor, Stanley Maphosa.
“Although it is certain that South Africa will not meet MDG number four – a two-thirds reduction in under-five mortality – recent successes in reducing child mortality are encouraging news,” said Professor Haroon Saloojee, convenor of the conference.
The opening ceremony was addressed by Susan Kasedde, Senior Advisor, HIV (Adolescents) at UNICEF.
“South Africa has come far in terms of reaching MDG number 4 – reducing child mortality in children under five years old – we can all see that. But the important thing to know is that timely interventions in terms of maternal, neonatal and child health can prevent mortality, which is the aim,” said Kasedde.
Efforts must be redoubled to address adolescent health. It is overly simplistic to say it is a case of children behaving badly, we should rather look into what we have been doing for adolescents and how we can intensify those efforts,” said Kasedde.
According to Dr Nonhlanhla Dlamini, Chief Director at theDepartment of Health, the struggle is around South Africa finding local solutions for local problems which will have global consequences.
In line with Dlamini’s sentiments, some of the contextualised goals set by World Vision and associates for the next year include: ensuring child health is properly included in the training of paediatricians and other child health workers, advocating into the more efficient and effective inclusion of different cadres and foreign work force participants into child health provision, considering the merits and possibility of developing a Southern African Collaborative Colloquium on Child Health to establish interaction with other Southern African Child Health workers.