Revisiting the Role of Pediatricians for Optimal Early Childhood Development in LMICs

摘要: We applaud the International Pediatric Association (IPA) for issuing this comprehensive and aspirational position statement on early childhood development (ECD) covering diverse issues from education to advocacy. 1 As the authors rightly observed, practice guidelines and resources to promote ECD for children at risk of poor development already exist in high-income countries (HICs). However, ECD largely remains a low priority for pediatricians in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), as previously reported in this journal. 2 The situation is unlikely to change without effective, evidencebased, equitable, and sustained advocacy within the context of the existing global commitments and agenda for child health and development. Arguably, the only and first-ever explicit global and political commitment for ECD is encapsulated in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals that calls for the identification …