Children and Wearing Mask - COVID-19

10 July, 2020

Dear All,

I was approached by the Palestinian Ministry of Education to review their protocol on getting back to school. I noticed that they are requesting all children to wear the mask, with special emphasised at children with chronic diseases. I reviewed protocols from the region, to find out that the age limit of wearing the mask is 7 years, those who are above must to wear it regardless of their health situation.  Yet, documents published by WHO indicated an age limit of 2 years, and it's not recommended for children suffering from Asthma.  For me, it is a huge responsibility to give an advise in this regards.  Hence, I thought to participate my worries with you, and I am seeking your help  in answering these questions; according to your experience;

1. What is the age limit for wearing a mask by a child 

2. Are there exceptional from wearing the mask by children, to whom

3. Do you have a culture specific videos for children, in Arabic, that explain; how to wear mask, the importance of it, the importance of keeping distance and being away from gathering, that you can share 

I highly appreciate your responses.  

Best Regards, Amira  

Amira Shaheen, PhDOWSD-EF Award winner 

Assistant Prof. in Epidemiology

CHIFA Country Representative for Palestine

Division of Public Health

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

An Najah National University

Nablus, Palestine

Honorary Research Fellow

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK

Amira.shaheen@LSHTM.ac.uk

 

Honorary  Research Fellow

Bristol University

UKhttp://www.bristol.ac.uk/primaryhealthcare/researchthemes/hera/

CHIFA profile: Amira Ali Shaheen is an Assistant Prof. in Epidemiology and Population Health at the An Najah National University, Nablus, OPT. She has an interest in Child Health and has worked on several research projects related to child health such as neonatal mortality, psychological morbidity, learning disabilities, and injuries. In 2009, she was awarded a PhD degree in Epidemiology and Population Health from the LSHTM. Her PhD research was to investigate the epidemiology of injury in Palestinian children. shaheenamira AT yahoo.co.uk She is a CHIFA Country Representative http://www.hifa.org/support/members/amira