Commenting on the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s report [1], Nuffield Trust Chief Executive Nigel Edwards said:
“Today's warnings from the RCPCH should set alarm bells ringing for anyone who cares about the future of some of the youngest and most vulnerable members of society. While there is work underway to improve child health outcomes in the UK, this report acts as a stark reminder of the road we are heading down if politicians and policymakers do not take child health seriously.
“Just as our own work showed in March, despite still being in the race to improve our children’s health we have sadly been left behind by several other countries we’d pride ourselves on being next to [2]. We lag behind several similar countries on reducing rates of infant mortality and stillbirth, and have considerably more overweight or obese children than most of our international peers.
“Yet despite these stark facts, we remain concerned that for far too long, children and young people’s health has been absent from policy wish lists [3]. It is therefore timely that this report lands just as NHS England are drawing up their plan for the NHS and we support the RCPCH in welcoming its inclusion in the long-term plan. This is a crucial opportunity to make the health of children and young people a top priority for the health service and break the trajectory of this current worrying trend.”
Notes to editors
- The RCPCH’s report Child health in 2030 in England: comparisons with other wealthy countries will be published on Monday 15 October at 0001
- Our March 2018 report International comparisons of health and wellbeing in early childhood, published in partnership with the RCPCH, presented data on health and wellbeing for early childhood in the UK and 14 comparable countries.
- The Nuffield Trust has made child health a key strategic priority, drawing on a concern that it has not received the attention it deserves from policymakers. For more information about our child health work programme, please see https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/our-priorities/children-and-young-people/
- The Nuffield Trust is an independent health think tank. We aim to improve the quality of health care in the UK by providing evidence-based research and policy analysis and informing and generating debate.
For more information, please contact:
Meilir Jones on 07795 410 433 or Leonora Merry on 07920 043 709/ Leonora.merry@nuffieldtrust.org.uk.