Welcome to the EAP Newsletter, January 2023 edition! We'll start with a message from the European Board of Paediatrics’ Secretary General, Dr. Ann De Guchtenaere.
By working on a European level, instead of just a national one, the EAP's impact has a broader reach. We can cooperate with partners on the national level to promote our achievements and initiatives across the European Union, thereby benefitting children throughout Europe. I also believe that whilst countries can benefit from the EAP, the EAP can benefit from national guidance and experiences.
One of my main reasons to get involved was that I want to support and promote the active role women can play in organisations like the EAP. More and more females are entering the paediatric profession and as such, it is important that this is reflected in the boards, where there is still a big gender imbalance.
I believe that in order to secure a brighter future for paediatricians, it is important to focus on having the right people with the right skills in the right place so they can provide the best care for children in need. In other words, we have a key role to play working with the UEMS, to make sure that the necessary training and education is safe-guarded and guaranteed in the future, whether that be in preventative, primary, secondary or tertiary care.
As I see it, one of our main challenges in the long-term perspective is to build up the paediatric workforce, it is essential to have paediatricians who are active in a social dimension. For example, personally I am a mother of three children, a paediatrician as well as a Secretary General. Wearing three hats at once isn’t necessarily an easy task. Like myself, my colleagues lead a busy life. It is vital to involve more people so we can continue to focus on important tasks, like advocating for the rights of children or making sure there is good training for every healthcare worker that works with children.
I hope that one day it will no longer be necessary to fight for children’s rights with regards to hospital care. I hope that it will eventually become a natural societal reaction, that individuals and particularly hospital directors will have this “child-reflex”. They will immediately take into account that a child is not an adult, nor is a child a “small adult” and as such, advocate for them.
I hope that our society becomes one that is more focused on children and acknowledges the importance of providing the best solutions for future generations and their development. This is what we invest the majority of our time in: researching the best medicines and solutions for children, and promoting, campaigning and advocating for the benefit of the youngest.
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