Professor Susan Sawyer and Professor George Patton from the RCH Centre for Adolescent Health are in London today to launch their special Lancet Commission, to support drastic change in adolescent health and wellbeing.

A symposium launch event will be held in London at 6pm Melbourne time (May 10) and will be streamed on a live webcast here. 

The Our Future: A Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing report brings together perspectives from public health, economics, political and social science, behavioural science and neuroscience.

George and Susan are lead authors on the report, collaborating with 30 leading experts from 14 countries and two young health advocates. 

There is an estimated 1.8 billion adolescents, age 10- 24 years, which will jump to two billion by 2030. Almost 90 per cent of young people live in developing countries.

This report provides recommendations for action to protect and promote the health, wellbeing and potential of this group, the largest generation in human history.

“This generation of young people can transform all of our futures,” George said. “There is nothing more important in global health than ensuring adolescents have the resources to do this. It is crucial to invest urgently in their health, education, livelihoods, and participation.”

Professor Susan Sawyer said that changes must encompass more than the health industry.

“The broader approach to prevention really needs to lie beyond just the health sector to include those sectors where young people are spending their lives, like education, welfare, protecting families to do a better job parenting and road safety,” Susan said.

“In Australia road traffic one of the largest causes of death for young people. Bringing together a complex set of disciplines that don’t readily speak to each other is the opportunity that is provided to us in this work of the commission. This generation of young adults can transform all of our futures. There is no more pressing task than ensuring they have the opportunity to do so.”

International support:

The report has already been championed by global governance and philanthropic bodies.

“My children’s generation is better equipped to expand the limits of human possibility than any that has gone before,” Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation co-founder Melinda Gates said in support of the findings.

“But while responsibility for their health and wellbeing lies with everyone, accountability currently rests with no one. For too long adolescents have been the forgotten community of the health and development agenda. We cannot afford to neglect them any longer.”

The report has also been endorsed by the United Nations.

“Adolescents can be key driving forces in building a future of dignity for all,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. If we can make a positive difference in the lives of 10-year-old girls and boys today, and expand their opportunities and capabilities over the next 15 years, we can ensure the success of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

The importance of education:

Overwhelmingly, the Commission report authors found an urgent need to expand access to free secondary education and to continue gathering better evidence.

“The single best investment we can make is guaranteeing access to free, quality secondary education,” George explained.

“Every year of education beyond the age of 12 is associated with fewer births for adolescent girls and fewer adolescent deaths for boys and girls. A healthy, educated workforce has the potential to shape a country’s economic prospects.”

He added that it is crucial young people are involved in transforming their wellbeing, personal development, and health.

“Digital media and new technologies offer remarkable opportunities to engage and empower young people to drive change. There is a pressing need to ensure that all young people have opportunities and access to universal health coverage regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, and marital, and socioeconomic status, particularly the marginalised.”

Key findings:

• Two in three young people on the planet grow up in countries where HIV and AIDs, early pregnancy, unsafe sex, depression, injury, and violence threaten their health and wellbeing.
• Adolescents today also face new challenges: rising levels of obesity and mental health disorders, high unemployment, and the risk of radicalisation.
• Global health efforts have improved the health of children aged under five in the past few decades, but older children have slipped through the cracks.
• For adolescents aged15 to 24; road traffic accidents, self-harm and violence are the leading causes of death.
• Depression causes in the largest amount of ill health for adolescents and young adults.
• Alcohol is a huge risk factor for the 20 to 24-year-old group.
• Maternal disorders are the leading cause of death in young women aged 20 – 24