Health status and public health needs in a Togolese child health care centre modelled after the Dutch system

Background The charity foundation Association Soutien Enfants Togo started a child health care (CHC) centre in Togo that was modelled after the Dutch high-quality CHC system to improve child health.Aim To describe health care data of children who visited the centre.Subjects and methods Data were rou...

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Main Authors: Paula van Dommelen, Cécile Schat-Savy, Arjan Huizing, Symone Detmar, Leonhard A. Bakker, Paul H. Verkerk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Annals of Human Biology
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/03014460.2024.2342529
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author Paula van Dommelen
Cécile Schat-Savy
Arjan Huizing
Symone Detmar
Leonhard A. Bakker
Paul H. Verkerk
author_facet Paula van Dommelen
Cécile Schat-Savy
Arjan Huizing
Symone Detmar
Leonhard A. Bakker
Paul H. Verkerk
author_sort Paula van Dommelen
collection DOAJ
description Background The charity foundation Association Soutien Enfants Togo started a child health care (CHC) centre in Togo that was modelled after the Dutch high-quality CHC system to improve child health.Aim To describe health care data of children who visited the centre.Subjects and methods Data were routinely collected between October 2010-July 2017. Outcomes were completed vaccinations, growth, development, lifestyle, physical examination, and laboratory testing results.Results In total, 8,809 children aged 0–24 years were available. Half (47.5%) of children aged 0–4 years did not receive all eligible free vaccinations from the government. The proportions of stunted children (all) or with a developmental delay (0–4 years) were 10.1% and 9.5%, respectively. In total, 40–50% of all children did not wash their hands with soap after toilet or before eating, or did not use clean drinking water. Furthermore, 5.1–6.6% had insufficient vision, high eye pressure or hearing loss. Sickle cell disease was detected in 5.3%.Conclusion A large group of children in need of prevention and early treatment were detected, informed and treated by the centre. Further research is needed to confirm if this strategy can improve children’s health in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our data are available for further research.
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spelling doaj-art-e8202c9a001e40fd9dff780b647414112024-12-26T09:21:16ZengTaylor & Francis GroupAnnals of Human Biology0301-44601464-50332024-12-0151110.1080/03014460.2024.2342529Health status and public health needs in a Togolese child health care centre modelled after the Dutch systemPaula van Dommelen0Cécile Schat-Savy1Arjan Huizing2Symone Detmar3Leonhard A. Bakker4Paul H. Verkerk5Department of Child Health, The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO, Leiden, The NetherlandsStichting Kinderhulp Togo, Zoetermeer, The NetherlandsDepartment of Child Health, The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO, Leiden, The NetherlandsDepartment of Child Health, The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO, Leiden, The NetherlandsDepartment of Child Health, The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO, Leiden, The NetherlandsDepartment of Child Health, The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research TNO, Leiden, The NetherlandsBackground The charity foundation Association Soutien Enfants Togo started a child health care (CHC) centre in Togo that was modelled after the Dutch high-quality CHC system to improve child health.Aim To describe health care data of children who visited the centre.Subjects and methods Data were routinely collected between October 2010-July 2017. Outcomes were completed vaccinations, growth, development, lifestyle, physical examination, and laboratory testing results.Results In total, 8,809 children aged 0–24 years were available. Half (47.5%) of children aged 0–4 years did not receive all eligible free vaccinations from the government. The proportions of stunted children (all) or with a developmental delay (0–4 years) were 10.1% and 9.5%, respectively. In total, 40–50% of all children did not wash their hands with soap after toilet or before eating, or did not use clean drinking water. Furthermore, 5.1–6.6% had insufficient vision, high eye pressure or hearing loss. Sickle cell disease was detected in 5.3%.Conclusion A large group of children in need of prevention and early treatment were detected, informed and treated by the centre. Further research is needed to confirm if this strategy can improve children’s health in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our data are available for further research.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/03014460.2024.2342529Community child healthprimary carepublic health
spellingShingle Paula van Dommelen
Cécile Schat-Savy
Arjan Huizing
Symone Detmar
Leonhard A. Bakker
Paul H. Verkerk
Health status and public health needs in a Togolese child health care centre modelled after the Dutch system
Annals of Human Biology
Community child health
primary care
public health
title Health status and public health needs in a Togolese child health care centre modelled after the Dutch system
title_full Health status and public health needs in a Togolese child health care centre modelled after the Dutch system
title_fullStr Health status and public health needs in a Togolese child health care centre modelled after the Dutch system
title_full_unstemmed Health status and public health needs in a Togolese child health care centre modelled after the Dutch system
title_short Health status and public health needs in a Togolese child health care centre modelled after the Dutch system
title_sort health status and public health needs in a togolese child health care centre modelled after the dutch system
topic Community child health
primary care
public health
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/03014460.2024.2342529
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