Every year some 12 million children die before reaching their fifth birthday, many of them during their first year of life. Around the world, three of every four children who seek health care are suffering from at least one of these conditions. Because their signs and symptoms may overlap, recognizing which of these conditions is present in a sick child can be difficult and a single diagnosis is often inappropriate. Treatment of the sick child may also be complicated by the need to combine therapies for several conditions. The situation argues for child health programmes which address the sick child as a whole, not just single diseases.
Integrated management presents several key advantages.
The approach gives due attention both to prevention of childhood disease as well as to treatment, emphasizing immunization, Vitamin A supplementation if needed, and improved infant feeding, including exclusive breastfeeding. Integrated management of the sick child allows for greater efficiency in training and in the supervision and management of outpatient health facilities. It reduces wastage of resources such as intravenous fluids and antibiotics by treating sick children with the most cost-effective intervention for their condition. The approach also avoids the duplication of effort that may occur in a series of separate disease control programmes. Standard Treatment Guidelines Newly developed treatment guidelines for the sick child cover the most common potentially fatal conditions.