Credit: Oli Winward
A parent’s natural instinct is to protect their children from the diseases that can disrupt their lives. In many ways this is now easier than ever before, but there are still plenty of challenges for researchers, doctors and policy makers to keep children happy and healthy.
Part of Nature Outlook: Children’s Health
Vaccination is crucial to safeguarding children’s health, but even before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted childhood vaccination schedules, there was a worrying downward trend in childhood vaccination rates. Getting these critical public health campaigns back on track should be a priority now. There are also questions about the supply of vaccines to the world’s poorest children. The first shot against malaria is now being rolled out in Africa, but there’s not enough to go around; for many children, protection may be years away.
New treatments for some teething problems are also desperately needed. Pharmaceutical companies often have little financial incentive to conduct the clinical trials needed to get medicines approved for children, even if the treatments are already being used in adults. However, some positive steps are being taken. Cell-based immunotherapies such as CAR-T cell therapy have been shown to be impressively effective in treating blood cancers, especially acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common childhood cancer. Solid tumors have so far proved a trickier foe, but new approaches to this problem show promise.
The mental health of children is also taken seriously. Issues like anxiety and depression may have their roots in something as ubiquitous and seemingly benign as social media, or as obviously traumatic as war. Whatever the cause, there are strategies to help children cope with these challenges. And doctors are developing more effective and compassionate ways to help mothers and their babies in cases of opioid dependence, which can lead to babies being born with substance abuse and withdrawal symptoms (S56).
We are pleased to acknowledge Sanofi’s financial support in preparing this Outlook. As usual, Nature retains full responsibility for all editorial content.
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