The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) provides medical and scientific knowledge that leads to improved health – through HealthyKids International (HKI), which develops programs, manages program delivery, and assesses outcomes, in addition to raising funds and awareness for these outreach programs.
A single model is insufficient to address the global crisis in paediatric health care. HKI offers a multifaceted approach to advancing children’s health globally through four distinct programs: Pan-Caribbean Paediatric Oncology; Africa Child Health Strategy; No Boundaries; and India Strategy.
Pan-Caribbean Paediatric Oncology
With a focus on children in Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Trinidad & Tobago, this initiative will target paediatric cancer in the Caribbean. In these countries, there are few individuals and resources available to screen people for cancer. By the time cancer is diagnosed, it is so advanced that treatment options are severely limited and survival threatened. Many of these cases affect children. HKI is currently developing a strategic plan to:
- Improve outcomes by developing protocols and access to diagnosis and treatment;
- Provide consultation and diagnostic expertise; and
- Train health professionals in nursing, laboratory analysis, and pharmacy.
Africa Child Health Strategy
HKI has made a commitment to support health capacity building in sub-Saharan Africa, with a specific emphasis on Ghana’s nursing infrastructure. Nurses are the first line of health care, and training paediatric nurse specialists will have an immediate, sustainable, and significant impact on child health. Ghana‘s child mortality rate is a staggering 12 per cent for children under the age of five years. Many of these deaths are easily preventable in Canada.
SickKids is collaborating with local partners to design and develop a nursing curriculum in Ghana, train a core group of nurses who will become nurse educators, and strengthen Ghana’s capacity to care for its children in the long-term. The program will train 40 paediatric nurse trainers, resulting in improved quality of care for children and improved child survival in Ghanaian communities.
After building nursing capacity in Ghana, the Africa Strategy will focus its efforts in Ethiopia and Tanzania.
No Boundaries
The SickKids No Boundaries team has been delivering in-country clinical care and education since 1999 to countries that include Ecuador, Peru, Nepal, Jamaica, and Vietnam. This year, the team travelled to Ethiopia, where the group is involved in a longer-term relationship that includes exemplary care as well as teaching and mentoring services to achieve more sustainable health outcomes for children. This new approach creates a more sustainable and significant impact on paediatric surgical care and child-health delivery. This pilot program will focus on transferring knowledge and skills, collaborating academically, and building capacity in Ethiopia, with other countries to follow in the future.
This medical initiative has a three-year strategic plan that outlines planned activities and outreach teams, speciality needs to be addressed – including anaesthesia, surgery, nursing, and many others – and measurable outcomes for educational activities and patient care.
Over three years, the expected results include:
- Enhanced health standards including sterilization techniques and anaesthesia care;
- Expanded laparoscopy (i.e., minimally-invasive surgery) skills; and
- Enhanced administration and teaching.
India Strategy
SickKids has created a strategy to train and nurture paediatric specialists in India who are committed to applying their expertise to the long-term needs of their country’s children. Without further medical training and ongoing professional and technical support, they are challenged to create the impact they desire. HKI offers support through the following programs:
The HKI India Fellowship Program brings trained medical experts from India to further specialize their field, learn new techniques, and develop best practices, which they can share with colleagues in India.
The Paediatric Eye Network will target lethal eye diseases, such as retinoblastoma (a cancer with survival rates above 95 per cent in Canada, but below 80 per cent in India) by introducing clinical trials, genetic testing and counselling, standardized therapies (such as chemotherapy), and medical education. The Paediatric Nursing Program will be structured along the same lines as the Nursing Program in Ghana, but tailored to the specific needs, resources, and environment of India.