The degree to which countries evaluate all policies’ impact on the health of children and adolescents can reveal the country’s path towards implementation of the health-in-all-policies principle (13,14) and improved intersectoral collaboration. Successful health programmes are rarely implemented in isolation (15); four out of five countries consider government policies for their impact on child and adolescent health, but only two in 2017 stated that all their policies needed to consider their impact on child and adolescent health. Health 2020 (13), adopted by European countries in 2012, urges all countries to have health-in-all-policies. The survey, however, points to the fact that this might not be fully realized for child health if this observed trend continues.
Strategic and operational planning with sectors such as education, family and social affairs, recreation and sports, transport, and food and agriculture ensures policies in those sectors are formulated and implemented with attention to the inclusion of evidence-based policies and interventions that will improve adolescent health (15). The Global Accelerated Action for the Health of Adolescents (AA-HA!) (15) provides some practical considerations in planning and managing intersectoral programmes (see AA-HA! Box 5.4.). Addressing this identified gap in the Region provides an additional opportunity to exchange best practices or provide technical assistance that can support a whole-of-government approach to child and adolescent health investment that can better link sectors across government.
Conclusion
Opportunities now exist for change. The 2017 survey revealed that countries are planning around child and adolescent health, and national strategies can support these regional efforts. Investments in health and education for children and adolescents can “generate high economic and social returns” (16). With three out of five countries planning to review strategies before the end of the current regional framework, there is an opportunity to shape the regional landscape in support of fulfilling the potential of children and adolescents in Europe.
Table 2.1 includes all indicators used in this chapter, and data from the country profiles and the survey displayed by country with summary statistics (an explanation of how the summary tables are presented is provided in Annex 1 (see also Fig. A1.6)).
Table 2.1. Child and adolescent health governance and strategy: summary table NS: no strategy. P: planned. PT: partially. Prep: in preparation.
a MKD: the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD is an abbreviation of the ISO).
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22
Introduction
This chapter summarizes the indicators included in the baseline survey that relate to countries collecting data to identify potentially neglected groups of children, reflecting the European child and adolescent health strategy’s overall priority of “Making children’s lives visible” (1). The priority underscores the importance of collecting systematic, high-quality data on all children, through which the groups for whom action is needed can be identified. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (2) states that each child has the right to health and protection without discrimination. Access to the highest attainable standard of health is a right that countries have a duty to ensure, which cannot be fulfilled without collecting relevant information.