Suchergebnisse

The provision of health care services for children is central to improving the nation's health and remains a key feature of every government's policy. This concept has been recognised in the United Kingdom since nineteenth century visionaries prompted increasing interest in the welfare of the country's school children. Successive generations have built upon these foundations and have been diligent in promoting effective service development. It is right that we follow their example, for the young have only one chance of a healthy upbringing. They are totally dependent on others to provide the right services, which are sensitive enough to address individual needs, yet sufficiently comprehensive to enable as many children as possible to reach adulthood with their potential uncom­ promised by illness. Our objective must be to enable today's children to enjoy a healthy childhood and to equip them to maximise the benefits of a healthy lifestyle in the years to come. We are making an essential investment in the future and must appreciate the challenges which come with that commitment. We need a multi-professional approach, positive management skills and the adoption of good management practice. I therefore welcome this book on managing child health services and commend the initiative of its editors in bringing together such an impressive team of contributors from different disciplines.

Vaccine policy, decision processes and outcomes vary widely across Europe. The objective was to map these factors across 16 European countries by assessing (A) national vaccination strategy and implementation, (B) attributes of healthcare vaccination systems, and (C) outcomes of universal mass vaccination (UMV) as a measure of how successful the vaccination policy is.These findings reflect an individual approach to vaccination by country. High VCRs can be achieved, particularly for paediatric vaccinations, despite different approaches, targets and reporting systems; these are not replicated in vaccines for other age groups in the same country. Additional measures to improve VCRs across all age groups are needed and could benefit from greater harmonisation in target setting, vaccination data collection and sharing across EU countries.