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• Plight Of Commonwealth Children Highlighted At World Congress

Plight Of Commonwealth Children Highlighted At World Congress

22 July 2004

"We are united in the firm belief that children have a right to grow up healthy, hopeful and educated."

Every year, 11 million children in the world's poorest countries of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia die before the age of five, says Dr Peter Sullivan, outgoing president of the Commonwealth Association of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (CAPGAN). Most of these deaths are due to a combination of infectious disease and malnutrition.

CAPGAN is a civil society organisation within the Commonwealth, advocating the needs of children in the developing world.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the Second World Congress of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, which ran from 3 to 7 July 2004 in Paris, France, Dr Sullivan stated: "The burden of poverty, conflict and economic decline falls heavily on children. Education is sacrificed, nutrition eroded and medical care is impossible."

Some 3,000 delegates from more than 90 countries attended the congress organised by the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. CAPGAN members reviewed congress abstracts and participated in the working group reports, and contributed to academic papers on HIV infection; persistent and chronic diarrhoea and malabsorption; obesity in children and adults; and malnutrition.

Dr Sullivan said: "We are united in the firm belief that children have a right to grow up healthy, hopeful and educated, so that they can realise their own potential and contribute to their countries' development. As paediatricians, we have a responsibility to protect the rights of these children and to speak out clearly when we see that they are endangered."

 

CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 193   21 July 2004