Dear Colleagues,
Many thanks to those who have responded so far, we have been in correspondence, and I will call our first working group meeting soon.
I wish to clarify that the invitation is to all colleagues and professionals whose work involves and impacts children, in all disciplines, allied services and professions, and academia (not solely paediatricians). I urge you to join in collaboration for the common cause to improve the lives of vulnerable child populations.
I look forward to working with you.
Call to African colleagues (and those with links to the region), to join ISSOP Africa region working group.
ISSOP has recently launched a working group to study the impact of COVID-19 on children, and in particular, vulnerable children in all the regions of the world. As the regional coordinator for Africa for this project, my aim is to bring together a group that can work together to focus on the specific perspectives and needs of the African region, through initiatives such as gathering of case studies to help promote positive child policy decisions, development of a policy statement, and development of training and learning resources, as well as research.
The preliminary objectives of this initiative are:
- 1. To draw on current knowledge to produce guidance for social paediatricians working with
vulnerable children.
- 2. To develop a child rights-based framework for contextualizing, assessing and speaking about
the impact of COVID-19 on children and adolescents.
- 3. To produce & disseminate an ISSOP policy statement
- 4. To prepare an ISSOP declaration for dissemination and endorsement.
We would greatly appreciate your collaboration. Once we have brought together the group I will arrange an internet meeting so that we can discuss the wider outline strategy for the ISSOP response and consider how best to progress things in a way that is tailored to the areas of need in our specific environments.
We plan to progress things swiftly in the coming weeks. Please contact me if you are interested in participating. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours Sincerely,
Dr Rosie Kyeremateng
Consultant Paediatrician
Africa Regional Coordinator for ISSOP: GlobalAction towards Covid-19 in Social Paediatrics
International Society of Social Paediatrics and Child Health (ISSOP)
CHIFA profile: Rosie Kyeremateng is a Paediatrician in the NHS, UK. Professional interests: Global/ International Health, Childrens Environmental Health, Child Rights, Public health. dr.rosina AT doctors.org.uk
