Infant and young child mortality continues to remain significantly high in developing countries, where it is estimated that yearly over 12 million children die before their fifth birthday. In the American Region alone it is estimated that 500.000 children under five years of age die annually, with more than one third of these deaths due to communicable diseases, including acute respiratory infections, diarrhea, measles, malaria or malnutrition, and often due to a combination of these conditions. The 1999 PAHO/WHO Initiative for the Americas "Healthy Children: The Goal for the year 2002" proposes to prevent 100.000 deaths in children younger than 5 years of age, through the application of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy.
In the Region of the Americas, lessons learned from almost two decades of disease-specific child survival programs worldwide are presently being applied through the IMCI strategy. The IMCI strategy proposes a set of guidelines for integrated case management of the most important causes of childhood death and of common associated interventions, in outpatient settings and at home. These guidelines aim to improve prevention and health care practices both in health facilities and in the home.
IMCI has been well accepted by Ministries of Health in the Region and several countries have moved forward with the implementation of the IMCI strategy. This presentation will describe the regional implementation of the IMCI strategy in the Americas, including the success of the training courses for health personnel and community workers in selective countries of the Region.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to: 1. Recognize the major childhood illnesses in the America, known to be the cause for the high mortality rates in children under five years of age; 2. Articulate the major steps of the IMCI strategy; 3. Discuss the benefits of the IMCI strategy
Keywords: Children's Health, Managed Care
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.