Adapting the ‘First 2000 Days maternal and child healthcare framework’ in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic: ensuring equity in the new world
Antonio Mendoza Diaz
A B * , Ron Brooker C , Sara Cibralic B , Elisabeth Murphy D , Sue Woolfenden E F and Valsamma Eapen A B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (ICAMHS), South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD), NSW, Australia.
B Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry South-West Sydney (AUCS), Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, UNSW Sydney, NSW, Australia.
C Early Life Determinants of Health, Maridulu Budyari Gumal (Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research, and Enterprise), Ingham Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
D Child Health, Health and Social Policy Branch - NSW Ministry of Health, NSW, Australia.
E Population Child Health Research Group, School of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia.
F Department of Community Child Health, Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, NSW, Australia.
* Correspondence to: a.mendozadiaz@unsw.edu.au
Australian Health Review 47(1) 72-76 https://doi.org/10.1071/AH22228
Submitted: 14 November 2022 Accepted: 14 December 2022 Published: 20 January 2022
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of AHHA. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY).
Abstract
The purpose of this perspective article is to emphasise the importance of the ‘First 2000 Days’ policy of life from conception to age five, and to propose new directions in which the policy’s implementation could be extended for the benefit of children and families. The proposed approach highlights principles of responsiveness, integration, sustainability and equity, specifying initiatives that embody the kind of innovation each principle aspires to. The article also proposes innovations in data collection and linkages that would strengthen the implementation of first 2000 days policies and frameworks. This perspective proposes a framework that could improve health systems implementation of services in the first 5 years of life, by proposing a well-coordinated continuum of services with integrated physical and digital solutions. This has the potential to transform how the health system monitors and responds to children and families’ needs in the critical early years of life during and beyond the current pandemic.
Keywords: child and family health, child health, COVID-19, early life heath policy, early life determinants of health, health and social policy, health systems, health services research, paediatric health, women’s health.
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