The outgoing RCPCH president is “ashamed” of the state of child health in the UK, she tells Gareth Iacobucci . But there are quick wins and more ambitious ideas that could turn things around with the right political will “I am a very optimistic, glass half full person. But I think we’re in a really bad position in terms of child health in this country,” says Camilla Kingdon. After a proactive three years in post, Kingdon stepped down as president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) in March. Steve Turner succeeds her in the role. When asked to sum up the state of child health in the UK in an exit interview with The BMJ , Kingdon pulls no punches about the country’s current shortcomings. “When we benchmark ourselves against other OECD countries by almost any measure, we’re performing really disappointingly,” she says. “As a British paediatrician I’m upset because we’ve lost ground. To say that I feel ashamed wouldn’t be an understatement, because I think most people imagine that healthcare in the UK is an exemplar. But what we’re seeing from the data is that we’ve drifted backwards, badly.” The figures Kingdon is referring to paint a bleak picture. In February the Academy of Medical Sciences published a report highlighting the “sustained rise” in infant mortality in England in 2014-17,1 with the UK overall ranked 30th of 49 OECD countries on this metric. By the age of 5 a fifth of children in England are overweight or obese, and a quarter have tooth decay. Throughout the UK child vaccination rates have fallen below World Health Organization target levels, and the demand for child mental health services …

中文翻译：

---

儿童健康：金登敦促下届政府必须收复“失地”

即将卸任的 RPCCH 主席对英国儿童健康状况感到“羞耻”，她告诉加雷斯·亚科布奇 (Gareth Iacobucci)。但只要有正确的政治意愿，就能取得快速的成果和更雄心勃勃的想法，可以扭转局面。“我是一个非常乐观、半满的人。但我认为，就这个国家的儿童健康而言，我们的处境非常糟糕，”卡米拉·金登说。在积极主动地任职三年后，金登于三月辞去了皇家儿科和儿童健康学院 (RCPCH) 院长一职。史蒂夫·特纳接替了她的角色。当金登在接受《英国医学杂志》的离职采访时被要求总结英国儿童健康状况时，他毫不犹豫地指出了该国目前的缺陷。 “当我们以几乎任何衡量标准与其他经合组织国家进行比较时，我们的表现确实令人失望，”她说。 “作为一名英国儿科医生，我很沮丧，因为我们已经失去了优势。说我感到羞耻并不是轻描淡写，因为我认为大多数人都认为英国的医疗保健是一个典范。但我们从数据中看到，我们已经严重倒退了。”金登所指的数字描绘了一幅黯淡的景象。 2 月，英国医学科学院发布了一份报告，强调 2014 年 17 月英国婴儿死亡率“持续上升”，1 在该指标上，英国在 49 个 OECD 国家中总体排名第 30 位。到 5 岁时，英国五分之一的儿童超重或肥胖，四分之一的儿童患有蛀牙。在整个英国，儿童疫苗接种率已低于世界卫生组织的目标水平，对儿童心理健康服务的需求……