Policy makers recognize that children represent a special population because of their vulnerability. The problems facing children differ in developing countries compared to industrialized countries. In the developing world, infant and child mortality rates far exceed rates elsewhere and policies to avert these deaths are a primary interest. The World Health Organization has made reducing child mortality a priority in their Millennium Development Goals. In comparison, in developed countries, policy makers and researchers focus on improving access and financing of special services such as mental health programs and insurance expansions, on whether education improves health, and on whether policy can influence the gradient between income and health. By investing in child health, one hopes to improve population health globally over time by reducing the burden of illness over the life trajectory. Investment in the social determinants of health, child welfare and early childhood education is known to have far-reaching effects. In addition, investing in areas such as prevention of infectious disease and childhood obesity and treatment of diabetes, asthma and mental health conditions would be expected to avert adverse outcomes in the adult years. All of these issues are of interest to health economists because of our ability to contribute to the development of policies that address both equity and efficiency.

This exciting and timely special symposium will feature internationally known experts who will focus on problems in both developed and developing countries, such as early childhood learning and development, special health programs and relieving the global burden of disease in children.

For more information: wendy.ungar@sickkids.ca or tilfordmickj@uams.edu

Aimed at policy makers, health economists and health services researchers in Canada and those planning to attend the iHEA Congress, this special symposium will feature a series of internationally known experts who will share findings on the health and economic gains by investment in child health intervention programs in both developed and developing countries. The shared knowledge may include findings from studies of early childhood learning and development interventions and special health programs for infectious and chronic disease aimed at relieving global burden of disease in children. While organized as a separate an independent event, scheduling this special symposium in advance of this international congress provides a rare and valuable opportunity to draw worldwide attention to the problem of investment in child health and to spark interest in the development of effective child health policy in Canada and abroad. This symposium creates an unparalleled opportunity for researchers, policy makers and economists to interact with their international counterparts to develop research collaborations and to discuss comparative policy developments aimed at improving child health.

There will be a fee of $50 USD to attend the symposium for those attending the main iHEA congress. For those attending the symposium only, a fee of $100 will apply (contact Christopher Martin for details). Any students and developing region attendees will be dealt with through a scholarship program.

To register you will need to set up a User Account. If you already have set up an account for the iHEA Congress, you can skip this step and log in with the same username and password.

Scroll down to the Sunday events and select the Child Health symposium. Follow the instructions for payment.

Register for Symposium

The primary objective of the symposium is to communicate research findings on the effectiveness of child health interventions that may lead to improvement in health policy. Additional goals are to broaden understanding and to identify avenues for international collaborative research to measure the health and economic benefits of early child interventions.

The objectives will be fulfilled by presenting speakers and discussion on the following topics:

• Health policy development for improving child health over the life trajectory
• Early childhood learning and development
• Harm prevention
• Relieving the burden of disease in children in the developing world