In June 2024 WHO announced that the Child Health and Wellbeing Dashboard has been updated to include the latest data, downloadable datasets, and a more user-friendly interface. Initially launched in collaboration with UNICEF and the Children in All Policies (CAP-2030) initiative, the dashboard is intended to provide policymakers with a data-based tool to inform health programmes, policy development, and evaluation. The dashboard covers issues from childhood survival to educational attainment and should enable policymakers and the public to “track progress”.
Improving health and survival
WHO indicates that 4.9 million children under the age of 5 die every year; nearly half of these children are babies in the first month of their lives. It warns that, according to current trends, 59 countries are set to miss the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target for under-5 deaths.
“Data is critical for these efforts, helping countries monitor impacts of programmes and policies and guiding interventions to address gaps.”
Staying accountable
The Lancet commentary from 2022 states that the WHO-UNICEF-Lancet Commission on child health and wellbeing called for “renewed commitment” to the “fundamental rights” of children, as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The Commission’s report and subsequent Comment on pandemic “underlined the uncertainties” that children face. It also made recommendations for building a better future for children by centring them in global, regional, and national development agendas and holding governments accountable through a robust cycle of monitoring, reviewing, and acting.
“This cycle depends on the availability of an accountability mechanism that showcases country performance across the four dimensions of the CRC: children’s right to be healthy, protected, educated, and fairly treated and heard.”
The creation of a child flourishing and futures composite index revealed that wealthier countries perform better than poorer countries on child health and development outcomes but are “imperilling children’s futures” through “excessive greenhouse gas emissions and industry practices that are contributing to environmental degradation”. Thus, the Commissioners proposed an additional accountability mechanism to allow countries to monitor progress and act accordingly.
WHO and UNICEF led a consultative process to create a “simple, innovative dashboard” drawing from existing frameworks. In establishing the “basic parameters” of the dashboard, the following steps were agreed:
- A scorecard template would be used with a traffic light style classification system for indicator data.
- The four domain areas of the CRC would be used and labelled as survive, protection, development, and participation, alongside the domain of contextual and policy factors.
- Standard age categories recommended by WHO for children and adolescents would be used.
To select indicators to populate the dashboard, partners combined prioritising indicators in the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Framework and other frameworks for which data are regularly collected. Then, the thresholds for assessing progress were established, considering the distribution of indicator data values and existing targets.
The updated Dashboard
The Dashboard presents data from 196 countries and territories around the world, providing country-specific data and allowing for global analysis. For example, the indicator that the highest number of countries (144) are struggling with is maternity protections, which WHO suggests are “essential” for supporting both mental and physical health during pregnancy and after birth. The latest version responds to requests from policymakers, academics, and civil society stakeholders during a Town Hall Event in May 2023.
Child and maternal health concerns return to the Agenda for The World Vaccine Congress in Barcelona this October, so do make sure you get your tickets to join us there and subscribe for more global health updates.
