Mission statement: 'Professionals acting locally and globally to improve the health and well being of children and young people with a focus on social pediatrics and child health.'

ISSOP meeting as part of the International Congress of Pediatrics, Melbourne, Australia, 24th--‐29th August, 2013

This year ISSOP is holding its annual meeting in Melbourne as part of the ICP 2013. ISSOP is joining with the Community Child Health Chapter of the Royal Australian College of Physicians to organise a series of sessions embedded in the ICP. In discussion with the Community Chapter, we have identified childhood disability as the theme of our sessions which are as follows:

Monday, 26th

11.00--12.30 Symposium: Optimizing the environment for a child with a disability:

. Care of disabled children - the need for a Child Public Health approach. Lennart Köhler, Sweden

. Supporting families, improving social circumstances. Nick Spencer, UK

. Promoting participation. Allan Colver, UK

15.30--17.00 Keynote Lectures: Children with Disabilities --‐ A Global Perspective

. A Conceptual Framework for Disability - Gloria Krahn, USA

. Disability --‐ A World Report - Pauline Kleinitz, WHO - Philippines

17.00--18.30 ISSOP/CCHC Workshop: Protecting disabled children from abuse

Tuesday 27th

17.00--18.30 ISSOP/CCHC Workshop: Equity in child health care - the role of paediatricians

Wednesday 28th

11.00--12.30 Symposium: Children with disabilities - making health systems work better for them

. A Parent's Perspective - Maria Heaton, Australia

. Managing disabilities: Screening and managing in low resource settings - Nalia Khan, Bangladesh

. Australian services - time to join the dots - Katrina Williams, Australia

Other events:

ISSOP/CCHC dinner - Sunday evening

ISSOP AGM - Wednesday pm 15:30-17:30 in Hospitality Suite 3.201-3.202.  The Hospitality Suites are located near the Exhibition Area.

CHILD2015 Forum - and why ISSOP members should join

For ESSOP to become ISSOP, a huge stride is needed. To be truly global, we need to embrace a new audience with quite different socio-economic status as well as a different agenda of disease and health. We need to be able to discuss our unique perspective in relation to malnutrition and malaria, HIV and human development, child survival and the MDGs. But help is at hand! The CHILD2015 forum brings together health professionals from North and South around the following goals -

CHILD2015 addresses the information and learning needs of those responsible for the care of children in developing countries, including mothers, fathers and family caregivers as well as health workers. Its remit includes children's rights to health and healthcare, and the social determinants of health.

The goal of CHILD2015 is: By 2015, every child worldwide will have access to an informed healthcare provider.

ISSOP members have been invited to contribute owing to our knowledge and expertise in children's rights and the social determinants of health, and we have a great opportunity here to ensure that health care providers are well informed in relation to social issues in health as well as biomedical causes of illness. We can also learn ourselves, and gain new members and colleagues.

Joining is easy and you can find out how at the following website - where you will also find further information on how it works -

http://www.hifa2015.org/child2015-forum/

Tony Waterston

2.10.11