Raising Awareness for Children with Chronic Health Conditions!

The 63rd United Nations Department of Public Information / Non-Government Organisation (UNDPI/NGO) Conference "Advance Global Health - Achieve the MDGs" was held in Melbourne, Australia in September 2010. This was a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of the issues facing all children living with any long-term health condition in resource-poor countries, as the global community seeks to achieve the Millenium Development Goals by 2015.

CLAN is very grateful to the brilliant team who helped to make our Conference Workshop possible:

- Prof Garry Warne (Royal Children's Hospital International) who spoke on the need for affordable access to essential medicines and equipment

- Assoc Prof Maria Craig (Children's Hospital Westmead and the Australasian Paediatric Endocrinology Group) who spoke on the power and importance of education, research and advocacy

- Dr Aman Pulungan (Dr Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta; the Indonesian Pediatric Society's Endocrinology Chapter and the Asia Pacific Pediatric Endocrinology Society) who spoke on the situation for children with chronic conditions in Indonesia (pictured with Maria Craig)

- Mr Shan Ali (Chair of Grameen Foundation Australia) who spoke of Grameen's views on the links between health and poverty, and challenges facing families of children who have serious health problems.

- Sincere thanks must also go to ADRA International for sponsoring our Workshop.

Moderated by Dr Kate Armstrong (President, CLAN), our Workshop shared a grassroots, community development approach to fulfilling our collective responsibility to help children who are living with chronic health conditions in resource-poor settings fulfil their rights to health and life.

The Conference was a terrific chance to network and participate in a range of fascinating Workshops. There were also over 40 Exhibits to explore, with a huge range of diverse and passionate NGOs represented.

CLAN was fortunate to have our own Exhibit at the Conference (see photo with Aman Pulungan, Shan Ali, Maria Craig and Kate Armstrong). Special thanks must go to Dr Sue Ditchfield, Chris Healy and Laura Healy (photo below with Dr Aman Pulungan) for their help in manning our Exhibit throughout the Conference. There were a lot of interested visitors, and this was a great opportunity to raise awareness amongst key stakeholders and policy makers that children experience chronic health conditions (it's not just all about adults!); that children with special needs require special care and assistance if they are to attain their basic human rights; and that change IS possible if we take a strategic, sustainable approach to a really complex issue.

Perhaps the best overall outcome from this conference was the meaningful inclusion of children within the final Declaration. The entire Declaration is available online, but some particularly encouraging excerpts are:

- the call to "Actively support, encourage and resource community voices to be heard through active representation in program planning, implementation and evaluation; always including representation of women and men, children, youth and older persons, indigenous peoples, the disabled and marginalized groups" and

- acknowledgement that "it is unacceptable that so many children and adults in low income countries continue to suffer preventable illness, disability and premature deaths each year.  The world knows how to prevent and treat most of the causes and has shown that well-focused efforts can significantly reduce levels of suffering".

This Declaration will be a useful advocacy tool moving forward, and CLAN looks forward to continuing our advocacy efforts for children around the world. We hope the September 2010 review of the MDGs by the UN will include children with chronic health needs and disabilities in a meaningful way.

Please feel free to listen to Kate Armstrong talk about some of these issues in an ABC National Radio interview given on-site at the conference.

Making Health Global - Listen. Learn. Act.

From 30th August, Australia will play host to a major UN conference focusing on global health and the Millennium Development Goals.

The conference, entitled Advance Global Health – Achieve the Millennium Development Goals, brings together more than 300 non-governmental organisations from over 70 countries - CLAN is one of these NGOs! Some 1,500 delegates will explore the challenges of meeting the Millennium Development Goals, and CLAN is proud to be a part of this important event.

The Advance Global Health Conference comes at a critical time:

· for the Millennium Development Goals which have been set back by the global financial crisis. The UN Secretary General has called world leaders to a summit in September to accelerate progress

· and for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria which will be seeking a further $20 billion in October. CLAN's vision is to encourage policy leaders to include children as a priority in this funding!

Officially this Melbourne gathering is the 63rd Annual UN Department of Public Information Non-Governmental Organizations Conference and CLAN is proud to be participating. CLAN's mission at this conference is to raise awareness of the plight of children who are living with chronic health conditions in resource-poor countries of the world, and the need for global action to help these children enjoy their basic rights to health.

If you would like to learn more about the conference, visit the Making Health Global website - it offers a unique opportunity to interact with the themes and excitement around the conference.  Follow all of the major news and outcomes from the conference on this web site.  If you are in Melbourne you can participate in a rich and diverse program of public events running from August 27th to September 5th.  They are all listed at http://www.makinghealthglobal.com.au.


What you can find on the Making Health Global Website?
· A range of information on the Millennium Development Goals (feature articles on each of these goals will be released daily from the 26th August)
· A list of public events which you are able to attend and participate in
· Live streaming of major conference events
· Updates from conference outcomes
· On-the-ground interviews from key delegates


What can I do to join in the discussion and keep up to date?
· Visit the Making Health Global Website - http://makinghealthglobal.com.au/
· Subscribe to the MHG newsletter
· If you have Facebook, join our group - http://tiny.cc/mhg2010
· Follow the the program on Twitter - http://twitter.com/MelbourneMHG
· Are you a twitterati? Use the hash tag #achieveMDGs