Working Group
AG Climate Change and Global Child Health
Welcome to the Climate Change and Global Child Health WG page. The following content awaits you:
- Climate change and global child health: introduction to the topic.
- The role of the GTP: How we see ourselves
- Our 3 fields of action: The GTP as an advocate, Content for members and individuals, Content for work in the medical environment.
- Background information: Literature collection
- Calendar of events on the topic
- Get involved: Our contact details
Climate change and global child health
The formulated goal of the GTP is to improve global child health. A prerequisite for this is a clear understanding and analysis of the multiple causes that threaten children’s health globally, in order to be able to address them effectively. In addition to inadequate preventive and curative health care at the national level, global contexts of various kinds determine access to and maintenance of health in the broadest sense. One of these is climate change.
Climate change, which is already manifesting itself in some parts of the world as a climate crisis or climate catastrophe, has a direct influence on access to and preservation of health (Castello A, Lancet 2009).
Climate change results in, among other things, more frequent and severe heat waves (Robinson 2013), floods, droughts, crop loss, decline in local productivity (exemplified by http://www.fao.org/climate-change), water shortages, air pollution, fires, and with resulting wars and displacement.
The consequences for health and life are well known and manifold: malnutrition and its directly resulting diseases as well as increased vulnerability regarding further pathologies due to a weakened immune system, negative effects of diverse environmental toxins, spreading of zoonotic infectious diseases by spreading vectors, migration and flight, with the consequence of missing structure of an adequate health facility and also destroyed school structures for the growing population. Mental disorders resulting from all these circumstances are still an extremely neglected component.
Earlier prognoses of a change of the climate with corresponding consequences must be adapted more and more and draw dramatic scenarios for the near coming decades. There is consensus among climate researchers that an accelerating rise in sea level is measurable, as is a rapid increase in uninhabitable territory on the continents.
All people are affected, but especially the vulnerable groups, including children in the countries of the global south. Here, increasing numbers of (fatal) victims are to be expected, far exceeding current levels. We see the beginnings of this development, for example, in East Africa (https://kenya.savethechildren.net/news/climate-change-wajir-risks-mother-and-child-survival), Australia, or in the Near East. This raises far-reaching questions about (1) how these developments can be averted (mitigation), and (2) how the consequences for people can be mitigated (adaptation).
The role of the GTP
The GTP can play an important role as an advocate for affected populations and provide early information on climate change impacts through its international networking. It can serve as a multiplier of the voices and concerns of its international partners. The GTP should be seen as an advisor to government agencies and policymakers that take up development cooperation issues, define projects, and fund their implementation.
The GTP can pool and actively disseminate existing information resources from other relevant organizations and integrate them into its own projects. A close cooperation with organizations dealing with prevention, research and political engagement in relation to climate change is to be strived for.
In addition, the GTP feels obliged to design or redesign its internal processes and projects in a climate-responsible manner and to communicate this transparently to the outside world in order to set a good example.
“We, the working group Climate Change and Global Child Health, want to hold the GTP and its members and interested parties accountable and motivate them to act in a climate-sensitive manner on a daily basis and have therefore formulated the following goals”:
The GTP as advocate
In a position paper, we would like to highlight the problematic impacts of climate change on global child health in order to give a voice to the vulnerable group of children and their families and represent them before decision makers.
We aim to be another disseminator of long known facts about the impact of climate change on global child health and also to provide emerging information. To this end, we refer to the relevant literature on the topic and are in exchange with organizations that are scientifically based on the topic of “climate change and health” as a mainstream activity.
German Alliance Climate Change and Health (KLUG) e.V.
Homepage
Health for Future
Homepage, Position paper
For our members and interested parties as private individuals
On this page we refer to established organizations and their information and recommendations on how everyone can individually contribute to positively influencing climate change.
Planetary Health Academy
Initiated by KLUG e.V., the Planetary Health Academy offers free online seminar series on “Planetary Health”.
Homepage
Sustainable travelling: Recommendations of the German Society for Tropical Medicine (DTG e.V.)
Link
The plastic atlas
Thoroughly researched publication by the Heinrich Böll Foundation on the creation, use and disposal of plastic and the associated problems for the environment.
Website and download
Videos and podcasts of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
Website
For work in the medical environment
Here, too, we refer to established organizations and their information, educational offers and recommendations for action for the climate-neutral design of practices, hospitals, etc.
Sustainable travel:
Recommendations of the German Society for Tropical Medicine (DTG e.V.) including information poster for patients
Link
Climate Change and Health
The American NGO “My Green Doctor” offers a lot of information about the impact of climate change on health as well as advice and action guidelines.
Link
Wie wird mein Arbeitsplatz klimafreundlich?
The American NGO “My Green Doctor” offers many practical recommendations for action to transform the workplace as well as working practices, including certified courses.
Link
Sustainable vaccination
Recommendations for action by the DTG for climate-sensitive use of resources in vaccination.
Background information
Helldén D et al. “Climate change and child health: a scoping review and an expanded conceptual framework”. Lancet Planet Health 2021. 5: e164–75. Free full text
Castello A, et al. “Managing the health effects of climate change”. The Lancet Commissions. Volume 373, ISSUE 9676, P1693-1733, May 16, 2009. Free full text.
Planetary Health – Klima, Umwelt und Gesundheit im Anthropozän
C. Traidl-Hoffmann, C. Schulz, M. Hermann, B. Simon; MWV Medizinisch Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft; 2021; 1. Auflage; ISBN 978-3-95466-650-8
Calendar of events
We publish upcoming events on the topic here. We make no claim to completeness.
On site:
Calendar of events of the Climate Change and Health Alliance (events partly online partly in presence)
Webseite
Hybrid
Calendar of events of the Climate Change and Health Alliance (events partly online partly in presence)
Website
Online
Calendar of events of the Climate Change and Health Alliance (events partly online partly in presence)
Website
Contact details
We are looking forward to further comrades-in-arms, suggestions, ideas, inquiries and comments at climatechange(a)globalchildhealth.de
You can also use this email to sign up for the email distribution list for events or publications relevant to the topic.
Working Group "Young GTP"
Founded by motivated GTP-members, who aim at strengthening the connections between students and the GTP.
Goals of the working group
- Connecting students and young doctors interested in tropical pediatrics and international child health
- Exchange platform for projects related to tropical pediatrics, for students and young doctors, who have not yet completed their specialty training.
- Exchange on options for further education or specialisation in the fields of tropical medicine and tropical pediatrics during and after medschool
Current projects
- Annual students-workshop during the GTP annual conference: this workshop is ideally organized „by students for students“ or at least with the help of students. So far the workshops were mainly a forum for discussions concerning different topics of tropical medicine and international child health. Future plans also involve a more practical focus with hands-on workshops on topics relevant for tropical pediatrics.
- Continuation of the Couchsurfing Program: local students provide free housing for other students attending the the GTP annual conference to keep travel expenses for students visiting from other cities or countries as low as possible.
Planned projects:
- Creating an online-platform to connect interested students and young doctors and give them a forum for exchanging information on interesting projects, research and further education in the field of tropical pediatrics and international child health.
Contact and participation
The working group is looking for motivated participators. If you are interested or have any questions please contact on of the following members of the organizing team:
Susanna van Eys - Email
Karolina de Souza Friedrichsen - Email
Jana Suero Molina - Email
Hanna Zastrow - Email
Carmen Herr - Email
Lea Decker - Email
Philipp Koliopoulos - Email
Working group "Ultrasound"
About the working group
The ultrasound working group unites colleagues interested in ultrasound usage in ressource-limited settings.
Currently it is offering sonography trainings in partner hospitals abroad and creating training tools and concepts. Courses started running in 2017 on a yearly basis. Our sonography courses are practical, patient-oriented and focused on a mutual learning experience amongst colleagues from different working backgrounds. Course participants are registrars and specialists from various countries and their number is limited to 20. Half the group consists of doctors training in the country where the courses are taking place for local capacity building. The other half consists of doctors from elsewhere offering them a unique insight into local pathologies and challenges connected to sonography diagnostics in settings with limited ressources.
Further ideas on the topic of sonography in resource limited settings are welcome.
Information on course dates are to be found here.
Contact
General contact persons are:
Dr. Christian Schmidt (email)
Course contact and booking:
Eva-Maria Maintz (email)
Our member area offers a forum for information exchange.
Working group "Health professions"
Aims and ideas of the health professions working group
The group addresses health professions beyond physicians (i.e. nurses, midwives, psychologists, occupational and physio therapists) and anyone who is interested in the topic.
Aims of the group are
- Exchange of experience and expertise
- Connecting people who have worked or work outside of Germany - i.e. in crisis areas or in partner countries for development aid - and/or who are interested in dealing with that topic.
- Exchange of teaching materials
- Creating a pool of experts
General information
Projects
It is our goal to provide access to projects of nurses in partner countries: a list of active blogs of nurses or our own GTP internal forum could increase exchange of experience. This way, nurses with no prior experience abroad can gain access to the topic. Exchanging experience will serve ongoing learning as well as problem solving. In the future, nurses experienced abroad who are willing to support a project for several weeks (e.g. for a workshop, training, practical guidance etc.) can be contacte via this group. Furthermore, ways and contacts for fundraising can be shared.
Market of ideas for context-adequate strategies
Each health professional has collected valuable experience working abroad, has solved problems and accumulated knowledge or is still occupied finding longterm solutions. Finding strategies that are adequate for health professionals in resource-limited settings can be a challenge. This working group offers the opportunity of collecting ideas and making them available for colleagues.
Particularly longterm problems outside the focus of medical interventions, such as estabilshing a high level of hygiene on a paediatric ward, can be discussed within this working group.
Different health professions in projects of development cooperation
Health professionals have always been part of projects of various organisations (GIZ, Caritas, MSF etc.). While platforms for networking of doctors exist, activities related to other health professions are currently restricted to personal blogs and a presence within the respective organisation.
Having this working group under the auspices of GTP, a society previously focussing on doctors, enables us to establish a direct and straight forward cooperation with experienced doctors, which is, in our experience, a prerequisite for successful development in the health sector.
We are looking forward to your active contribution and a vivid exchange within the working group!
Contact
Irene Schmidt, Paediatric intensive care nurse and Michael Galatsch, nursing scientist
E-Mail: ag-gesundheitsfachberufe@tropenpaediatrie.de
Working Group "ETAT Training"
About us
The Working Group ETAT (Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment) Training was initiated in 2018 by three graduates of our TropPaedCourse. It serves as a platform for exchanging experiences on the topic of triage and organizing ETAT+ courses in Germany.
What are ETAT and ETAT+?
ETAT (Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment) and ETAT+ are structured and proven effective approaches specifically developed for triaging and treating sick children in primary healthcare facilities with limited resources. They aim to reach the poorest and most vulnerable children in rural areas and have a demonstrated impact on reducing mortality.
The ETAT guidelines, developed by the WHO, are based on an adapted form of the Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) guidelines, which are standard in industrialized nations. These guidelines are specifically tailored to address the common challenges of pediatric emergencies in resource-limited healthcare settings, where:
- Mortality rates among hospitalized children are high,
- Many children die within the first 24 hours of admission,
- Inadequate medical care, lack of basic skills in emergency care, absence of written treatment protocols, and delays in initiating treatment are common.
Projects of ETAT
- Regular planning meetings of the working group take place.
- The working group organizes ETAT+ courses in Germany.
By subscribing to our newsletter, you’ll stay updated on new dates and receive them also via email.
Contact
The current contact persons for the working group are Judith Lindert, Barbara Zimmer, and Sophia von Blomberg.
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to them via email.
Course reports
After a three-year break, new and old ETAT+ Germany working group members who have not had the chance yet to be part of an “ETAT IC” in the past, asked us to organise another train-the-trainer course with ETAT related content. We are happy that a third ETAT+ IC could successfully take place end of May 2024 in Münster.
This three-day course was conducted with an international group of 13 participants (two from the Netherlands, one from Italy), four international instructors (two from UK and two from Switzerland) and one local course organiser.
The age ranged from 30-70+ years representing a variety of different levels of working experience (e.g. four consultants; some > 5 years of working experience in LMICs). Since our first pilot course in 2019 the UK ETAT team supports the German ETAT+ working group with very experienced instructors, making this event repetitively effective, educational, and inspiring. Our Swiss instructor team with longstanding EPALS/NLS instructor experience as well as ETAT experience in LMICs were a fantastic combination.
Course Objectives and Structure
In general, the goal of the ETAT+ Instructor Course is to give former ETAT+ course participants with instructor potential deeper insight into adult learning and improve their simulation skills. The teaching methods from the European resuscitation council (ERC) and the course content from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) in the UK built the foundation of this “ETAT IC”. Participants were asked to prepare by reading the “pocket guide to teaching for clinical instructors” and additional course material.
The strength of this course is small group work with lots of practical sessions, where participants can get equipment familiarisation and individual feedback on mini-lectures, mini-simulations, skills stations with the four-step-approach, facilitating small group work as well as simulation assessment. Additionally, there was peer support and feedback in mentor groups. On the last day we had a new addition compared to our last courses which we called “marketplace”, a session where participants got the chance to repeat one practical from the last courses. To finish this course, there was a panel discussion about implementing trainings in low resource settings and other cultures. With this background information it should be possible to teach ETAT+ (as well as other simulation trainings) in different countries and cultures even more effectively.
Feedback and Highlights
The overall feedback was very good (mainly good-excellent). The good atmosphere created a safe space for the participants to receive professional feedback with room for improvement. The possibility for repetition was emphasised as very important by the participants. It was wonderful to see the fast progress in teaching skills from day to day. All participants enjoyed the chance to train under supervision of experienced trainers as well as exchanging ideas with one another.
Participant Testimonials
What was especially good about this instructor course?
- “The fusion of lessons and practicals. The extra experience brought from the faculty enriched it so much, and the common interests and energy of the participants.”
- “Good teaching atmosphere, very enthusiastic teachers and learners. It was very nice to have so much time in the small groups to practice and discuss.”
Social and Networking Activities
In total, this course was a great success! Combining the course programme with social events (African Jazz concert on Friday night, Dinner at Saturday night) lead to a fantastic time all together where everyone could benefit from each other! This is great networking! This is the future of great instructors who can spread the word of ETAT around the globe and improve simulation training wherever they go (> 80% of the participants have already plans to go abroad of whom > 50% have had experiences as an instructor before this course)!
Acknowledgements
Thanks to everyone who took part in the organization, participation, and teaching!
Barbara Zimmer (course organiser) & Gudrun Jäger (course director) for the German ETAT+ Team
We`re happy to announce that we could organize our second ETAT+ Instructor Course despite several challenges. Finally, we reached out to hold a three days couse in Hamburg with an international group of participants as well as instructors from August 27th – 29th 2021. After a first pilot course in 2019, which we conducted in Hannover with great support from the UK ETAT team, we planned to perform a course by a mixed instructor team including the German ETAT+ team, UK ETAT team as well as very experienced instructors from the ERC and American heart association (EPALS trainer from Germany, Switzerland as well as the Netherlands).
The goal of the ETAT+ Instructor Course is to teach and enable former ETAT+ course participants who showed instructor potential the possibility to get a deeper insight into adult learning and how to perform it efficiently. The foundation of this instructor course were the teaching methods from the European resuscitation council (ERC) and the course content from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) in UK. A special part of the agenda were group discussions about challenges and important points related to implementing trainings in low resource settings and other cultures. With this background information it should be possible to teach ETAT+ (as well as other simulation trainings) in different countries and cultures even more effectively.
We were lucky that our international instructor team could travel over three country borders from UK, Germany and Switzerland despite the Sars-Cov-2-pandemic restrictions. And even our participants came from different European countries like the Netherlands, Ukraine and Germany. The course was held in the Wilhelmsstift Hospital in Hamburg with great support from the local team.
The three day training was very intense including a lot of practical trainings with personal feedback and room for improvement due to good repetition. It was wonderful to see the fast progress in teaching skills from day to day. All participants enjoyed the good atmosphere, the chance to train under supervision of experienced trainers as well as exchanging ideas with one another.
In total, this course was a great success and we had a fantastic time all together where everyone could benefit from another! This is great networking! This is the future of great instructors who can spread the word of ETAT around the globe!
Thanks to everyone who took part by organisation, participation and teaching!
Gudrun Jäger & Barbara Zimmer for the German ETAT+ Team & international instructors
Sponsors
We are grateful for having been sponsored by the
We did it! The fourth ETAT+ Germany course was conducted at the hospital „Wilhelmsstift“ in Hamburg October 23rd-25th 2020. Luckily we were able to do so – even under COVID-19-pandemic circumstances.
It was wonderful to teach an enthusiastic and energetic group of participants. Our hands-on-course was done under strict hygiene restrictions: We kept distance, washed hands regularly, wore masks at all times, cleaned our materials after each session and ventilated the room almost continously. This meant that we all wore scarfs and wooly hats while rescucitating our dolls.
It is great to see how important the ETAT+ content is for everyone attending the course, especially the participants, who had plans to work abroad straight after the course.
Quick facts:
- 15 enthusiastic international participants (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
- 6 energetic, motivated instructors
- 1 well-prepared, calm course director
- 3 days of hands-on, thrilling simulation training
- interactive video-lectures from instructors from the UK & the south of Germany
- Video-greetings from different ETAT+ instructors around the globe
This course was pragmatic, energetic, safe & so much fun! We hope to continue soon to spread the word of ETAT+ and get to know even more interesting people who want to improve international child health!
Thanks to everyone who made this course possible!
If you are interested in attending the next course please keep yourself updated using this website. We will publish the next course dates soon.
Stay safe! The ETAT+ Germany team
AG GTP-Jahrestagung
Das Tagungskommittee wechselt jährlich und stellt das Programm der GTP-Jahrestagung zusammen, plant und gestaltet die Tagung, 2018 in Dinslaken. Wenn Sie Beiträge einreichen möchten, finden Sie weitere Informationen auf den Seiten der aktuellen Tagung. Wenn Sie das Tagungskommittee auf andere Weise unterstützen möchten oder Fragen haben, melden Sie sich bitte bei schriftfuehrer@globalchildhealth.de
AG Tropenpädiatrischer Intensivkurs
Diese Arbeitsgruppe plant und gestaltet den jährlich stattfindenden Intensivkurs. Wenn Sie Beiträge einreichen oder auf andere Weise zum Kurs beitragen möchten, melden Sie sich bitte bei konopelska@globalchildhealth.de. Bei Fragen zu Organisation oder Anmeldung melden Sie sich bitte bei troppaed@globalchildhealth.de.