This is the report from the ninth meeting (May12-14) of the strategic and technical advisory group of experts (STAGE) in maternal newborn child and adolescent health and nutrition. Report provides a summary of the proceedings, recommendations and guidance provided by STAGE. Technical topics included maternal newborn transition model, maternal and child nutrition targets, non communicable diseases in children, Y-checklist for adolescent health, and risk differentiated approach for reducing childhood mortality.
The eighth meeting of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts (STAGE) for maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (MNCAHN) was held in Geneva on 14–16 November 2023. Most of the STAGE members attended in person while five attended the meeting online. They were joined by WHO staff at headquarters and online from regional offices, and 50 observers from partner organizations. The meeting agenda included three new topics (maternal well-being, birth defects and complementary feeding) and detailed updates on various topics from the previous meetings (maternal newborn stillbirth transition framework, maternal and newborn health (MNH) commodities, midwifery models of care, caregiver practices as part of child and adolescent health well-being, and kangaroo mother care (KMC)). The preparatory work included meetings either with existing working groups of STAGE or with small subgroups with the co-chairs of the two workstreams and select STAGE members. These groups provided inputs to the WHO technical teams for the preparation of background information and for the presentations to STAGE. The open sessions on each day enabled inputs from STAGE members, WHO regional offices and observers from various organizations, while the closed sessions with STAGE members helped consolidate the STAGE recommendations. These were further finetuned through online consultations with the members and the final STAGE recommendations are provided in this report.
WHO and UNICEF jointly developed this global strategy to focus world attention on the impact that feeding practices have on the nutritional status, growth and development, health, and thus the very survival of infants and young children. The strategy is the result of a comprehensive two-year participatory process. It is based on the evidence of nutrition's significance in the early months and years of life, and of the crucial role that appropriate feeding practices play in achieving optimal health outcomes. The strategy is intended as a guide for action; it identifies interventions with a proven positive impact; it emphasizes providing mothers and families the support they need to carry out their crucial roles, and it explicitly defines the obligations and responsibilities in this regards of governments, international organizations, and other concerned parties.
The seventeenth meeting of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases (STAG-NTD) was held at the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, on 11–12 October 2023. The theme of the meeting was “Accelerating towards 2030”. The statements and statistics presented in the report may not represent the views, policies and official statistics of the Organization. Through a pre-recorded video, Dr Jérôme Salomon (WHO Assistant Director-General, Universal Health Coverage, Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases) welcomed participants to the meeting. He said that NTDs are one of the most formidable health challenges. They afflict one billion individuals in the most vulnerable populations, miring them in poverty and desolation. This meeting was a key opportunity to steer collective efforts towards transformative solutions and strengthen collaboration among governments, organizations and individuals. The elimination of NTDs underscores the indispensable role of robust and adaptable health systems on the way to universal health coverage. Control of NTDs is about human empowerment, children’s education and people’s participation in their communities. By eliminating NTDs, we foster a legacy of health and optimism, and exemplify the importance of global unity and collective action. Together, we can all catalyse change, ensure a world where nobody needlessly suffers from these afflictions and health is genuinely a universal right.
New evidence this year corroborates the rise in world hunger observed in this report last year, sending a warning that more action is needed if we aspire to end world hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. Updated estimates show the number of people who suffer from hunger has been growing over the past three years, returning to prevailing levels from almost a decade ago. Although progress continues to be made in reducing child stunting, over 22 percent of children under five years of age are still affected. Other forms of malnutrition are also growing: adult obesity continues to increase in countries irrespective of their income levels, and many countries are coping with multiple forms of malnutrition at the same time – overweight and obesity, as well as anaemia in women, and child stunting and wasting.
Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.
Within the continuum of reproductive health care, antenatal care provides a platform for important health-care functions, including health promotion, screening and diagnosis, and disease prevention. It has been established that, by implementing timely and appropriate evidence-based practices, antenatal care can save lives. Endorsed by the United Nations Secretary-General, this is a comprehensive WHO guideline on routine antenatal care for pregnant women and adolescent girls. It aims to complement existing WHO guidelines on the management of specific pregnancy-related complications. The guidance captures the complex nature of the antenatal care issues surrounding healthcare practices and delivery, and prioritizes person-centered health and well-being --- not only the prevention of death and morbidity --- in accordance with a human rights-based approach.
