On October 17 and 18 child development experts from Brazil, Cuba, the Netherlands, Chile and the United States will meet in Brasilia. The invitation comes from the Technical Department of Child Health and Breastfeeding of the Minsitry of Health. The goal of this meeting is to help the Brazilian Ministry of Health develop a national program to promote the comprehensive development of children from birth to age six. There are 17 million Brazilian children in this age group.
The event is called the “International Policy Seminar for Comprehensive Development in Early Childhood”. A total of 250 participants are expected to attend this seminar. The opening ceremony will be led by Health Minister Alexandre Padilha and there will be several opportunities for debate amongst attendees. One of the topics to be discussed is an analysis of the activities of the program ” Brasil Carinhoso”, which require coordination across various ministries: Health, Education, and Social Development and Hunger Alleviation.
In addition, the creation of a committee of experts within the Ministry of Health to promote early childhood development will be announced during the meeting. There will be several presentations from foreign governments and the Brazilian states on experiences of implementation of programs aimed at stimulating young children.
Among the participants, there will be representatives of the federal government, child health coordinators from states and municipalities, university researchers, and civil society organizations with recognized experience in the field.
The coordinator of the Technical Department of Child Health and Breastfeeding at the Health Ministry of Brazil is Paul Bonilha. He sees the seminar as a great opportunity for the federal government to conduct a thorough review of the situation and needs of early childhood. In his own words: “It is a privilege to be able to convene in one event such a select group of recognized specialists who are responsible for the health of children. Attendees come from all levels of government and from the civil society”.
We wish the Brazilian friends in this event as much success (or more!) that they already have in soccer. We will make sure to share in the blog the main results from this meeting.
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