Child Health
Preventable child deaths persist despite proven solutions.
Millions of children face preventable threats like malnutrition and abuse. Structural inequities, poor early nutrition, and gaps in care during pregnancy and birth continue to hold back global progress toward a healthy start for every child.
Insights
Political: Progress demands national policy commitment to child rights and implementation of global conventions like the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Economic: Suboptimal breastfeeding alone costs countries billions. Investment in early nutrition and maternal care yields high economic and health returns. Breastfeeding could save over 820,000 lives every year.
Social: Violence, maltreatment and early-life deprivation shape lifelong physical and mental health, with intergenerational effects.
Technological: Digital health, AI-powered diagnostics, telehealth, and mobile tools are underleveraged in many contexts.
Legal: Laws exist to protect children from violence and abuse but enforcement, training and access to justice remain weak in many settings.
Environmental: Unsafe sanitation and environmental hazards heighten child mortality risks and worsen malnutrition and disease in vulnerable areas.
Reflective Questions
How might we scale up proven newborn and early childhood interventions in resource-constrained settings?
How might digital tools enhance child protection and early health screening?
How might we redesign early-life systems—nutrition, caregiving, legal protection—to truly uphold every child’s right to thrive?
Related Insight Cards
References:
World Health Organization, n.d. Child health. Geneva: World Health Organization. Available at: https://www.who.int/health-topics/child-health
World Health Organization, 2025. Childhood cancer. Geneva: World Health Organization. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancer-in-children
World Health Organization, 2024. Child maltreatment. Geneva: World Health Organization. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/child-maltreatment
World Health Organization, 2023. Infant and young child feeding. Geneva: World Health Organization. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/infant-and-young-child-feeding
World Health Organization, 2022. Violence against children. Geneva: World Health Organization. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-children
