‘Two out of three child deaths preventable’
MORE THAN THREE MILLION BABIES DIE IN THE FIRST MONTH OF THEIR LIVES
S h e h a b A l M a k a h l e h
Autism, obesity, diabetes, asthma and heart diseases which have become emerging epidemics throughout the world are some of the biggest risks facing children, a leading health expert warned as he gave a lecture at Majlis of Mohammad Bin Zayed on Monday.
During his lecture titled: ‘Changing the future of health through paediatrics’, Dr Kurt Newman, president and CEO of Children’s National Medical Centre in Washington, DC, president of the Children’s National Centre at the Shaikh Zayed Campus for Advanced Children’s Medicine and a partner to carry out the vision of Shaikh Zayed Institute for Paediatric Surgical Innovation, said: “Accidental injuries kill 830,000 children every year around the world, more than three million children die in the first month of birth, and two out of three child deaths are preventable.”
Dr Newman called for using a paediatric approach, using the best solutions made available through new technologies that help provide the so-called “anticipatory medicine”.
“Collaborative application of anticipatory medicine will proactively care for children today in order to improve adult health in the future,” Dr Newman highlighted in the lecture attended by General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
Harnessing the power of prevention, technology and genetics will transform child health, he said, adding that anticipatory medicine implies efficient prevention, detection and intervention to save the patients’ lives.
Heart defects
“We should find ways to address or even eliminate the health issues before they develop, using pulse-oximetry (pulse-ox) screenings to screen for congenital heart defects in newborns to save their lives. We should also use life-saving genetic medicine for early intervention in prevention of adult disorders: obesity, type II diabetes, asthma and so on,” he said.
“Epigenetics will lead to the development of new medications or therapies to eliminate certain diseases and foetal neuromedicine will allow doctors to fix health issues before birth,” Dr Newman recommended.