May 3, 2022 – A new Lancet series focuses on building a holistic global health agenda for improving child and adolescent health and development from before conception to adulthood, and to reduce inequities in access and quality of care.
Developed by an international group of experts, the series, published April 27, 2022, addresses concerns that progress in child health has been too slow and that global goals are off track, and provides insights and recommendations to reduce child mortality and morbidity. The series includes four papers and two commentaries covering topics such as nutrition, education, and sexual and reproductive health.
Margaret Kruk, professor of health systems at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, was lead author of one of the series’ papers. The paper proposes “a shift from individual-level or clinical-level approaches to macro-level reforms,” focusing on how social systems such as schools, communities, families, and digital platforms can help promote child health. Other Harvard Chan co-authors of the paper included Todd Lewis, Catherine Arsenault, Joshua Jeong, and Aisha Yousafzai.
Kruk was one of the featured speakers in an April 28 live-streamed event marking the launch of the Lancet series.
Read the Lancet series: Optimising Child and Adolescent Health and Development
Read Margaret Kruk’s paper: Improving health and social systems for all children in LMICs: structural innovations to deliver high-quality services
Watch the Lancet Optimising Child and Adolescent Health and Development series launch (Margaret Kruk’s presentation is at 1:15:10)