MENA child health crisis calls for bold policy shifts

Well-designed child health policies are pivotal to lifelong well-being. Governments should rethink their child health policies to ensure that children receive a holistic care approach that maximises their outcomes so that they can thrive from an early age. An abundance of research asserts that children’s well-being is hinged by the quality of social, health, and family care they receive. Early positive experiences and strategic health interventions improve quality of life and contribute to reducing future health care expenses, laying the foundation for prosperous and productive societies.

Over the past decades, the global child health agenda has centred on reducing mortality among children under the age of 5. This focus led to a significant achievement — a 60 per cent reduction in global child mortality between 1990 and 2019, as stated by the World Health Organisation. Despite this significant progress, children in the MENA region continue to face pressing health challenges, as highlighted by a recent UNICEF report, emphasising the need for a more ambitious child health policy.

Improved health interventions could prevent many of the 90,000 avoidable deaths among young people in the MENA region. Injuries, including transport accidents and violence, account for half of these deaths and a significant portion of the overall disease burden. Non-communicable diseases caused over 27,000 fatalities in 2019, while mental health issues and self-harm are becoming more prevalent. Despite overall control of communicable diseases, countries like Djibouti, Sudan, and Yemen continue to face significant challenges in managing these illnesses.

Impacted by disabilities

Poor diets have led to significant challenges for children in the MENA region. Currently, 18 per cent of children experience stunting, while over half of those under five face micronutrient deficiencies. Alarmingly, overweight and obesity rates are also high, affecting 27.5 per cent of boys and 28.1 per cent of girls. Additionally, the region sees a considerable prevalence of childhood disabilities, with approximately 21 million children, or 13 per cent, impacted by various disabilities.

With the critical health challenges facing children in the MENA region, the need for effective child health policies has never been more urgent. Policymakers must understand that improving child health depends on several key elements.

Relevant policies and legislations should prioritise a set of levers, including enhancing early childhood care and education, improving child welfare programs, strengthening early intervention efforts, promoting positive social connections, ensuring economic stability for families, providing safe housing, creating secure environments, and ensuring affordable access to paediatric care.

Adopting a life-course trajectory by age, condition, and context is recommended. The varying health challenges across MENA countries underscore the necessity for such targeted, data-driven strategies. By analysing relevant and updated health data, policymakers can identify trends and risks, design targeted interventions, prioritise preventive measures, and monitor the effectiveness of implemented policies.

Major cities should consider establishing specialised children’s hospitals, staffed with skilled medical professionals who can address a wide range of childhood illnesses. Upgrading existing paediatric services, especially in rural areas, is vital to provide high-quality medical care.

Access to affordable paediatric care is crucial for families to identify and manage unexpected health issues early, ensuring better management of chronic conditions. Vitally, it is worth allotting annual check-ups for children of all ages to monitor their health and detect any illnesses as early as possible, while also curating credible and useful information to caregivers. Access to telehealth services for families living in rural areas should also be considered.

Conducting pioneering research

Simultaneously, hospitals should host leading research centres focused on advancing paediatric medical science, discovering new treatments, and developing innovative solutions to enhance child health care outcomes. These centres could collaborate with universities and global health organisations, conducting pioneering research in complex fields. By merging clinical care with research initiatives, these hospitals ensure that children benefit from the latest medical advancements, ultimately enhancing care quality and improving survival rates.

Against this backdrop, the involvement of primary caregivers is a key instrument towards safeguarding children’s well-being. To achieve this, governments should enhance health literacy initiatives aimed at parents, guardians, and educators, emphasising the significance of child health and enabling them to make well-informed decisions.

For instance, the “HealthyChildren.org” website, run by the American Academy of Pediatrics, serves as a comprehensive resource for parents seeking evidence-based information to support their children’s well-being. It publishes expert advice on a wide range of topics, such as nutrition, mental health, growth milestones, and common childhood illnesses.

Policymakers can enhance health outcomes in schools and communities by embedding preventive health care measures within these settings. Such initiatives could include vaccination drives, public health awareness campaigns throughout the year based on diverse themes, cooking workshops promoting nutritious diets, and regular health assessments.

To help address wasting, stunting, and obesity in the MENA region, policymakers could implement a number of effective interventions, such as early childhood nutrition programs that teach children about health eating habits, implementing healthy school-based meal programs, and encouraging regular physical activity through fun indoor or outdoor activities.

A clear strategy involving public-private partnerships could pave the way to making healthy food options more accessible and affordable. Additionally, promoting breastfeeding and fortifying commonly consumed foods with essential vitamins and minerals can significantly enhance child nutrition. Governments could also develop regulations to reduce the marketing of unhealthy foods to children and incentivise local producers and farms to supply affordable, nutritious options.

Arguably more so than ever, it is imperative that governments, communities, and families unite in implementing effective interventions that prioritise child health, ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential.


Sara Al-Mulla is an Emirati civil servant with an interest in human development policy and literature