Occurrence of major infectious diseases and healthcare seeking among young children with disabilities in Sierra Leone using cross-sectional population-based survey data.

BACKGROUND: Children with disabilities are at risk of worse health outcomes compared to children without functional difficulties. Sierra Leone has one of the world's highest prevalences of functional difficulties among children, but little is known about the co-occurrence of major infectious diseases and healthcare-seeking behaviours among children with disabilities. METHODS: We used household survey cross-sectional data on children 2-4 years old and logistic regression models estimating ORs between functional difficulties and symptoms of infectious diseases including diarrhoea, fever and acute respiratory infection (ARI), adjusted for sex, age and stunting. We also examined whether caregivers sought advice or treatment for the illness from any source and if the child was given any treatment for the illness. RESULTS: There was an increased risk of fever among children with functional difficulty (adjusted OR (AOR)=1.3, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.8) and children with severe functional difficulty (AOR=1.6, 95% CI 1.0 to 2.7). Children with severe functional difficulty were also at increased risk of diarrhoea (AOR=1.8, 95% CI=1.1 to 3.3). There were no significant differences in seeking advice or treatment for diarrhoea, fever or ARI symptoms between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: In Sierra Leone, children with functional difficulties, especially severe functional difficulties, more often have symptoms of major childhood diseases that are known to increase under-5 mortality.

[The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - an important opportunity to improve global health]. / Agenda 2030 och målen för en hållbar utveckling angår oss alla.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its seventeen Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. It is a bold agenda for global social, environmental and economic development, with human health as a central theme. Even though substantial improvements in health have been achieved during the last decades, every year over 5 million children die, mostly from preventable causes, and 300 000 women die in conjunction with childbirth. Premature deaths from non-communicable diseases are increasing, and our ability to treat infections is under threat through widespread anti-microbial resistance. Climate change is recognized as the biggest threat to health in our time. When the world now starts to plan for how society and our health systems should be reorganized after the COVID-19 pandemic the 2030 Agenda could and should play a central role. In this context, Agenda 2030 provides an ambitious roadmap for development, with its emphasis on collaboration across borders and disciplines. The agenda is achievable but reaching its goals will require strong commitment at all levels and societal change on a large scale.