Urgent call to action: Child rights and the state of child morbidity and mortality in Yemen.

More than 2.3 million children under the age of five in Yemen suffer from acute malnutrition. Approximately 450,000 are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and may die if they do not receive urgent treatment. In this context, without security, stability, and better access for farmers to have the means to resume growing food, children and their families continue to sink deeper and deeper into hunger and malnutrition.

The silence of the lambs: Child morbidity and mortality from malnutrition in Yemen.

More than 2.3 million children under the age of five in Yemen suffer from acute malnutrition. Approximately 450,000 are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and may die if they do not receive urgent treatment. In this context, without security, stability, and better access for farmers to have the means to resume growing food, children and their families continue to sink deeper and deeper into hunger and malnutrition. As a result, malnourished children are more vulnerable to illnesses, including diarrhea, respiratory infections, and malaria, which are a major concern in Yemen. This situation is a vicious and often deadly cycle.

Pandemic of hunger: The severe nutritional deficiency that kills Yanomami ethnic children.

Chronic malnutrition is the painful reality that Yanomami children face in Brazil's largest Indigenous Land and is pointed out by specialists as one of the results of the federal government's "anti-indigenous policy". The lack, or scarcity, of medical care, together with the lack of environmental inspection, pushes the Yanomami into a desperate scenario. It is estimated that 20,000 illegal miners operate in the territory. Mining activity contaminates rivers with mercury and has caused deformities and illnesses in women and children. They live on the largest indigenous reserve in Brazil. There are nine million hectares within the Amazon Forest. Malaria has persistently advanced in Yanomami land: there are more than 16,000 cases this year alone. Several children are dying.

Children are in need of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.

Almost 60% of Afghans forced to flee their homes in 2021 because of the Taliban advance are children. They are starving. It is estimated that approximately one million will suffer from severe, life-threatening malnutrition by the end of 2021. Many have been separated from their families by the chaos that has ensued in Afghanistan after Taliban took power, and hundreds of them were driven out of the country unaccompanied. How must these children have been when they suddenly found themselves without their relatives during the chaotic crisis, or when they boarded an evacuation flight? It is vital to identify them quickly. Too many children witnessed scenes that no child should see. Children and teenagers are dealing with anxiety and fear and desperately need help and mental health care. This is the sad reality facing Afghan children, regardless of ongoing political developments and changes in government.

Children are in need of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.

Almost 60% of Afghans forced to flee their homes in 2021 because of the Taliban advance are children. They are starving. It is estimated that approximately one million will suffer from severe, life-threatening malnutrition by the end of 2021. Many have been separated from their families by the chaos that has ensued in Afghanistan after Taliban took power, and hundreds of them were driven out of the country unaccompanied. How must these children have been when they suddenly found themselves without their relatives during the chaotic crisis, or when they boarded an evacuation flight? It is vital to identify them quickly. Too many children witnessed scenes that no child should see. Children and teenagers are dealing with anxiety and fear and desperately need help and mental health care. This is the sad reality facing Afghan children, regardless of ongoing political developments and changes in government.

Spirituality in childhood cancer care.

To deal with the suffering caused by childhood cancer, patients and their families use different coping strategies, among which, spirituality appears a way of minimizing possible damage. In this context, the purpose of the present study was to analyze the influence of spirituality in childhood cancer care, involving biopsychosocial aspects of the child, the family, and the health care team facing the disease. To accomplish this purpose, a nonsystematic review of literature of articles on national and international electronic databases (Scientific Electronic Library Online [SciELO], PubMed, and Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature [LILACS]) was conducted using the search terms "spirituality," "child psychology," "child," and "cancer," as well as on other available resources. After the search, 20 articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in the final sample. Our review showed that the relation between spirituality and health has lately become a subject of growing interest among researchers, as a positive influence of spirituality in the people's welfare was noted. Studies that were retrieved using the mentioned search strategy in electronic databases, independently assessed by the authors according to the systematic review, showed that spirituality emerges as a driving force that helps pediatric patients and their families in coping with cancer. Health care workers have been increasingly attentive to this dimension of care. However, it is necessary to improve their knowledge regarding the subject. The search highlighted that spirituality is considered a source of comfort and hope, contributing to a better acceptance of his/her chronic condition by the child with cancer, as well as by the family. Further up-to-date studies facing the subject are, thus, needed. It is also necessary to better train health care practitioners, so as to provide humanized care to the child with cancer.

Childhood depression: a systematic review.

As an important public health issue, childhood depression deserves special attention, considering the serious and lasting consequences of the disease to child development. Taking this into consideration, the present study was based on the following question: what practical contributions to clinicians and researchers does the current literature on childhood depression have to offer? The objective of the present study was to conduct a systematic review of articles regarding childhood depression. To accomplish this purpose, a systematic review of articles on childhood depression, published from January 1, 2010 to November 24, 2012, on MEDLINE and SciELO databases was carried out. Search terms were "depression" (medical subject headings [MeSH]), "child" (MeSH), and "childhood depression" (keyword). Of the 180 retrieved studies, 25 met the eligibility criteria. Retrieved studies covered a wide range of aspects regarding childhood depression, such as diagnosis, treatment, prevention and prognosis. Recent scientific literature regarding childhood depression converge to, directly or indirectly, highlight the negative impacts of depressive disorders to the children's quality of life. Unfortunately, the retrieved studies show that childhood depression commonly grows in a background of vulnerability and poverty, where individual and familiar needs concerning childhood depression are not always taken into consideration. In this context, this review demonstrated that childhood-onset depression commonly leads to other psychiatric disorders and co-morbidities. Many of the retrieved studies also confirmed the hypothesis that human resources (eg, health care team in general) are not yet adequately trained to address childhood depression. Thus, further research on the development of programs to prepare health care professionals to deal with childhood depression is needed, as well as complementary studies, with larger and more homogeneous samples, centered on prevention and treatment of childhood depression.

Leprosy treatment dropout: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease endemic in some undeveloped areas, and still represents a public health problem in Brazil. Therefore, the control of this endemic disease depends necessarily on the institution of correct treatment and containment of treatment dropout. This study aims to conduct a systematic review of published studies on treatment dropout of leprosy. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of articles on treatment dropout of leprosy, published between january 2005 and april 2013, on MEDLINE and SciELO databases. The search was performed using the MeSH terms: "leprosy"; "patients dropouts" and the keywords: "leprosy, treatment" and "noncompliance, leprosy" in association, beside the equivalents in Portuguese. RESULTS: There were originally 196 references. After analyzing the titles and abstracts of articles, 20 articles were obtained and included in the final sample. DISCUSSION: Leprosy is a notifiable disease known as its disfiguring capability and the high rate of non-compliance to treatment. The low adhesion is responsible for the remaining potential sources of infection, irreversible complications, incomplete cure and, additionally, may lead to resistance to multiple drugs. Many factors are responsible for the interruption or dropout treatment: socioeconomic factors, education level, knowledge about the disease, lack of efficiency of health services, demographics, side effects of drugs, alcoholism, among others. CONCLUSION: The recent scientific literature about the subject diverge regarding the factors that most affect the dropout problem in treating leprosy patients. However, better integration between professionals and users, and greater commitment of the patient, are common points among the authors of the studies.

The biopsychosocial processes in autism spectrum disorder.

BACKGROUND: Autism is a disorder characterized by pervasive social and communicative impairments, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors and restricted interests. Its causes and effects have been researched from various neurocognitive theoretical perspectives and with the aid of neuroimaging technology. We aimed to describe biopsychosocial processes characteristic of the Autism Spectrum Disorders. METHOD: Literature review using Medline and Scopus databases published between 2001 and 2011, with the keywords "autism", "theory of mind", "executive functions", "central coherence" and "fMRI". RESULTS: The studies found were plotted and organized into tables and an explanatory diagram of the main findings was produced. CONCLUSIONS: The most popular neurocognitive theories are still unable to fully explain the characteristics of the complications that autistic spectrum disorder causes to the quality of life of individuals living with autism. The association of clinical research and neuroimaging may contribute to a better understanding of the functioning of the brain affected by the disorder.