| Summary: | This manual was developed based on the recommendations of a global technical consultation on child health in humanitarian emergencies co-organized by WHO and UNICEF at the end of 2003. WHO in collaboration with the Centre for Refugee and Disaster Response, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University undertook a systematic review in 2004. It demonstrated that existing guidelines, including The Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), do not cover all priority conditions in emergencies. The objective of this manual is to provide comprehensive guidance on child care in emergencies. Existing guidelines, such as IMCI, assume a functioning health system that facilitates the referral of children, which may not be available in emergency situations. So this manual also includes the initial management of severe conditions. It was also realized that existing manuals do not cover injuries, burns, neonatal illness, psychosocial problems etc, which are considered of high priority in emergency settings. These are addressed in this manual as well as issues on mental health, psychosocial support and common preventive interventions such as immunization. Each chapter summarizes the main ways of diagnosis, treatment and prevention using flow charts. The flow charts are arranged in such a way that they can be enlarged for use as job aids/wall charts, or for modular training at convenient times on the management of each condition. The manual is a collaborative work of three technical areas within WHO - Child and Adolescent Health and Development (CAH), Health Action in Crises (HAC), and Disease Control in Humanitarian Emergencies (DCE)
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