Never in the field of health was so much learned by so many in so few months. This Grand Round will recap the lessons from last year, take stock of where we are in February 2022, describe the complex situation with vaccines, and look to what the year might hold for the pandemic and children in Australia and countries around the world.
Fifteen children aged up to 14 years drowned in Victoria in July 2020 to June 2021. This is an alarming increase on the 10-year average of four child drowning deaths per year. Life Saving Victoria (LSV) is the peak agency in the State for water safety recognised by the Victorian Government. LSV analyses data on fatal and non-fatal drownings each year among people of all ages, to identify prevention and risk-mitigation strategies and inform education programs.
“Vaccine inequity – The world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure, and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world’s poorest countries.”
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
The availability of effective vaccines for the prevention of covid-19 has led to an unseemly competition as countries rushed to sign deals with manufacturers, often outbidding each other for access, to the exclusion of poorer countries. In high income countries 60% of people have received at least one dose of Covid vaccine, while in low income countries the figure is 3%.
Mental Health is an issue of growing concern across the community. This has been amplified through the COVID-19 pandemic. Child mental health is also an ongoing priority for the Melbourne Children’s Campus (MCC) and its three partners. The RCH treats many vulnerable patient groups (e.g., children with chronic illness, neurodevelopmental disorders, psychosocial challenges) with elevated risk of psychological and mental health difficulties. This extends across our inpatient and outpatient services and into the community. Despite this, mental health services can be fragmented and difficult to access.
Tuberculosis is a major cause of child morbidity and mortality globally. Young children are at particular risk of severe and disseminated disease following exposure to a person with tuberculosis. Public health and clinical services, including in Victoria, focus on early detection and treatment of both disease and infection. There have been recent developments that potentially strengthen and decentralise services for tuberculosis.
We are unleashing the power of data to improve child health. The first such Centre in Australia is a hive of potential and ideas, realising the shared vision of our campus partners. We are using data to advance and humanise many different perspectives of paediatric patient care.
Too often research evidence fails to inform practice or policy, and opportunities to improve children’s health and wellbeing are lost. The Melbourne Children’s Knowledge Translation and Research Impact Project, funded by the RCH Foundation, seeks to better understand campus KT and impact needs, and has developed and piloted strategies to advance knowledge translation, implementation and research impact.
Vernon Collins Oration 2020
Championing child rights amidst the chaos of COVID-19
Professor Elizabeth Elliott, AM
The Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity (CCOPMM) monitors the causes and factors involved in all child deaths throughout Victoria, and provides recommendations to Government, health care professionals and the community. In recent years the Council has identified the social and economic gradient in risk of child deaths, which includes virtually all causes, from accidental trauma, drowning, SIDS, infections and chronic illnesses. The Council has long recommended improvements in the systems for provision of child welfare and support to families who are vulnerable, especially families of children with chronic illness, and these needs are magnified in the COVID-19 pandemic era.
Fortunately, COVID-19 in children is generally mild. However, the necessary public health mitigation measures to control community transmission have resulted in many unintended consequences for families and children.
How are Victorian children tracking during the pandemic? What can families do to help their children through these uncertain times? And how are young people with disabilities faring?
