Call for action - crisis recovery and preparedness in child and adolescent public health

Abstract

Europe is confronted with a series of crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, increased migration, the war in Ukraine and many global conflicts, an energy shortage, the increase in cost-of-living, all which put achievements in child and adolescent public health at risk. Such events have aggravated existing health problems (Bhutta et al., 2022) and increased inequality in health and well-being in general, but more so in children (UNICEF, 2023). Children and adolescents, undergoing physical, mental and social developments, are particularly vulnerable to each crisis, let alone to the culmination of a number of subsequent and concurrent events, especially on the back-drop of a global climate crisis. While some of these crises do not have a direct effect on health, they impact most social determinants of health, hence indirectly affect health and well-being, and therefore, are of a public health concern. Furthermore, the concurrence most likely leads to adverse interactions and multiplicative adverse effects on health.