After the successful completion of the course student is competent to
- Describe the global distribution of child health and its trends.
- Analyse main differences between the global South and the North, and between countries and within countries in child health and relate them to wider global issues.
- Analyse the main direct causes and underlying factors including global phenomena in global child health.
- Analyse critically how child health could be improved with the current interventions and discuss if and what wider global actions would be needed.
- Analyse critically global actors and their strategies (including political issues and financial interests) to combat childhood mortality and ill-health.

Issues:

• Global child health distribution
• Underlying factors of child mortality and illnesses, including social determinants
• Children’s environmental health
• Role of the main infectious diseases and their global interventions among children
• Global mental health of children
• Child health in difficult circumstances in the world
• Global governance on child health and wellbeing

Programme

Venue:  Arvo Building, room B 342 (3rd floor)

 March 1st

- Introduction to the course. Anneli Milen, Professor, Global Health &Development, UTA. At 9.15- 9.30

- Global governance on child health and wellbeing (Pentti Kotoaro, Secretary General, emeritus, UNICEF- Finland. At 9.30- 12.

1. The Rights of Children,  and other global agreements
2. Global actors and their roles in child health
3. Global initiatives to improve child health

March 2nd

- Global distribution and trends of child health and mortality (Taneli Puumalainen, Chief Physician, National Institute for Health and Welfare. 2.3. at 13.15-16.

1. Overall global picture and changes. Differences between the Global South and North and between groups of countries
2. Relative importance of the main direct causes of child mortality and illness.
3. Main global intervention strategies.  

March 8th

- Children, women and health in the Millennium Development Goals and in the agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals. Per Ashorn, Professor, Pediatrics, UTA. 8.3. at 9.15-10. 

 - Underlying (root) factors of child mortality and ill-health, including social determinants (Ulla Ashorn, Senior Researcher; Mikko Perkiö, University Instructor, Global Health & Development and Anneli Milen, UTA). On 8.3. At 10.15 -12. 

March 15th

- Perinatal and Neonatal risks (Vesa Eskola, Specialist Chief Doctor, Tampere University Hospital). 15.3. on 9.15- 10.15.

- Global mental health of children - are problems increasing? Kaija Puura, Docent, Chief Doctor on Child Psychiatry, Tampere University Hospital, UTA). At 10.30-12.   

March 22nd

- Main environmental risk clusters and other risks. Global initiatives. Part 1. (Anneli Milen). At 9.15- 10.    

- Latest global trends on role of food and nutrition security: hunger, undernutrition, malnutrition, breastfeeding (Heli Kuusipalo, Senior Scientist, THL). At 10.15- 12) 

March 30th  

- Global trends in childhood infectious diseases and their main interventions (Timo Vesikari, professor, virology and paediatrics, UTA). At 9.15-11.

- Main environmental risk clusters and other risks. Global initiatives. Part 2. (Anneli Milen). At 11.15- 12. 

Requirements for completion of the course

•   Active participation in lectures and tutorial sessions

•   Passing a written exam

 Evaluation

Fail/Pass on a scale 1-5. The grade is given by the teacher responsible for the course based on the written exam. Active participation may increase the mark by one grade. 

Course Material

Material of the lectures and the tutorials.

Possible additional reading will be informed later.

Attendance is open to all students at the University of Tampere, but attendance priority is given to students enrolled in the MHS program at the University of Tampere