Sites for sore eyes

A good place to start for information on child health is the website for the Institute of Child Health (ICH), UCL, as it highlights the latest research developments in the field. ICH is also home to the websites of the Centre for International Child Health and the International Perinatal Care Unit which contain many abstracts of recent academic papers on international child health topics and links to partner organisation sites and projects. It also hosts the international health resource centre, Source, a search of whose databases reveals an expansive bibliography of references.

On the international front, UNICEF, and in particular its health section provide information, statistics, case studies and links to articles on child health, with a focus on developing countries. Amongst its resources is the State of the World’s Children 2002 report, providing an overview of the UN‘s policies to tackle child mortality and morbidity. UNICEF has joined with UNAIDS to produce downloadable posters, highlighting HIV/AIDS topics particularly affecting children and young people. This site also hosts resources on related topics, including MTCT, AIDS orphans and the impact of the virus on families. The WHO‘s website has a child health area offering factsheets, features and links to descriptions of activities, reports, and events. The Child and Adolescent Health and Development link contains resources on UN recommendations to improve health in each age group.

NGOs focusing on child health include, most notably, Save the Children‘s UK and US branches. Their Saving Newborn Lives Initiative produced a comprehensive report, together with the UK charity Women and Children First, on the State of the World‘s Newborns, which reviews the main issues in newborn health globally and includes statistics on disease burdens for newborns.

Developing country sites include the Mother and Infant Research Activities NGO and the Aga Khan University, Pakistan, (search for child health on www.aku.edu/search/search.asp for detailed presentations on child health).

Finally, both Eldis and id21 have clear, accessible sites summarising academic publications in this area, which can be found at www.eldis.org/children/index.htm and www.id21.org/health/index.html.

Claire Puddephatt
Imperial College London
Clinical Trials Centre
Winston Churchill Wing
Faculty of Medicine
St Mary’s Campus
Norfolk Place
London W2 1PG
UK

c.puddephatt@imperial.ac.uk

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