Conclusion and Next Steps

Conclusion and Next Steps

A safe and healthy environment is essential for children’s health and development. This CEHI project represents the first step China has taken to develop a robust list of children’s environmental health indicators. The list resulted from a rigorous methodology and technically sound approach using scientific evidence from peer-reviewed research and consultations with national and international experts.

However, having a list of CEHIs is just the beginning. The important work that follows is ensuring that routinely collected, high-quality data to support each indicator can be captured, analyzed and shared with relevant stakeholders to guide policy that benefits children’s health. It will also be necessary to identify a data steward to obtain and integrate data from various sources. Stewardship should include data quality review, data updating, analysis, reporting, visualization and data sharing.

Using the data collected for various indicators, researchers can validate associations between the different categories of indicators in the China context and identify relevant interventions and policies to reduce environmental exposures, support appropriate interventions, and ultimately reduce adverse health outcomes for children. Continued tracking and monitoring of CEHIs will enable policymakers to understand the dynamics of the problem areas, prioritize risk factors, target resources efficiently, and accurately measure intervention effects.

Near-term steps that can be taken to advance the CEHI project include: 1. Conducting comprehensive mapping of existing environmental health tracking systems in China and identifying the one most suitable to host

CEHIs. 2. Mapping data sources with the goal of populating data tables for each indicator, resolvable at the finest possible geographic level and stratified by important population characteristics such as gender, relative economic advantage and age group. 3. Refining the current list of CEHIs, for aspects such as the indicator definition, computation method, possible data source, and characteristics of existing data for each CEHI. 4. Developing a cross-sectoral mechanism to coordinate the health sector, environment sector and other relevant sectors in creating a national children’s environmental health plan and tracking system that builds on the CEHI work in China. 5. Publishing regular children’s environmental health profiles at national and subnational levels. 6. Working with children, youth networks and private sector partners to share information about children’s environmental health in China and this report, particularly with potential data collectors at subnational levels. 7. Mobilizing specialists in children’s health and environmental issues to use CEHIs to advocate for stronger environmental regulation and enforcement by government. 8. Researching emerging threats to children’s environmental health and promoting international cooperation to enhance science and policy measures regarding this issue. 9. Identifying environmental health issues that would benefit from improved surveillance and research, with recommendations about data collection, needed resources and time frames for reporting findings. 10. Recommending timely, relevant policies and interventions to improve children’s health.

References

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