Brazil currently has a population of around 60 million children and adolescents aged from 0 to 18 years. Taking care of children’s health requires a specialized approach, which encompasses the dimensions of promotion, prevention, early diagnosis, and assertive treatments. The professional trained to provide this attentive care is the pediatrician. But in Brazil, the vast majority of children and adolescents who depend on the Public Health System (known as SUS) is not monitored by these specialists. This is because, in the public network, there is no mandatory presence of a pediatrician in primary care, made up of basic health units spread across the country.

“Brazil currently has around 40,000 pediatricians. It is the area with the largest number of specialist doctors. However, less than 10% of these professionals are providing service under the SUS,” reveals the technical director of Pequeno Príncipe Hospital, Donizetti Dimer Giamberardino Filho. “Every child has the right to be seen by a pediatrician. It is unfair that children from families that can hire a health insurance plan have access to a pediatrician, while children who rely on the SUS do not. This is an unsustainable inequality, as the specialized look of a pediatrician can truly change a child’s life story,” he adds.

The drop in vaccination coverage rates and late diagnoses, which often compromise the child’s life, are some of the consequences of the lack of follow-up with a specialized professional. Learn more about this subject in the main article of 2024 July edition of the Pequeno Príncipe News.

In this newsletter edition, you will also check the articles below. Click on the links to read the full length texts.

• Pequeno Príncipe is among the Brazilian centers that perform bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for sickle cell anemia. According to the Ministry of Health, around 1,100 children are born each year in Brazil with sickle cell disease, which is equivalent to an incidence of 3.78 cases for every 10,000 live births, affecting predominantly people of African descent, due to the Brazilian miscegenation process. The BMT is the only curative treatment available in the country. Just a few centers in Brazil perform BMT for sickle cell disease, especially through the SUS, and Pequeno Príncipe stands out for its involvement in dedicated care for this disease and offering this highly complex therapy. Read more by clicking here.
• Pequeno Príncipe Complex and Paraná Sanitation Company (Sanepar, abbreviation in Portuguese) sign a partnership agreement to research hospital effluents. The objective of this initiative – that is based on the knowledge generated in studies carried out by researchers from the Pelé Pequeno Príncipe Research Institute – is to seek solutions that contribute to reducing or even eliminating antibiotics and the so-called superbugs present in hospital effluents (sewage). This is unprecedented in Brazil, and the expectation is that the results obtained from the Paraná experience will serve as a reference and encourage other similar actions. Learn more details about the partnership by accessing this link.