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INTRODUCTION
1. Children and young people are our investment in Scotland's future, and their health a vital part of that investment. The way in which we nurture them through childhood and adolescence into adult life directly impacts on the future health of our nation and on its prosperity and stability.
2. Across Scotland much good work is already underway in respect of child health. Much more still remains to be done if we are to address not only the patterns of childhood illness that continue to be seen in a modern society but also the behaviours, attitudes and life-circumstances which impact on our children and young people and threaten their prospects of sustained good health.
3. Clearly health and well-being are shaped by a wide range of influences, circumstances and services both within and well beyond the established healthcare sector. Education and social care, good nutrition and healthy life-styles, environmental improvements and initiatives to address inequality and disadvantage all play a vital role in promoting and protecting children and young people's health. These activities involve a range of Government Departments, Local Authorities and the voluntary sector whose input is a vital influence on the broader context within which this Action Framework must be delivered.
4. Given the crucial role of other sectors in the overall child health agenda and delivering improved outcomes for children more generally, the implementation of the Framework will need to take place in the context of effective interagency working as set out in the Scottish Executive's requirement for local authorities and their planning partners, including healthcare providers, to produce Integrated Children's Service Plans which cover children's services, child health, children's social work, school education and youth justice. The proposals in Getting it Right for Every Child will further strengthen joint working across all services for all children.
5. It is however equally important that the healthcare and health services which we provide for our children and young people are planned, delivered and developed in those ways that best treat illness and foster health and well-being. To that end this Action Framework sets out a structured programme of actions, drawn primarily from existing policy initiatives and commitments.
6. The delivery of the Action Framework presents a major challenge. To support that delivery process the Framework includes progress measures for each element of the programme which will act as markers of change and improvement and will allow progress to be monitored and managed over time. The ultimate outcome must be a pattern of support, intervention and service delivery that meets the needs of current and future generations of children and young people in ways that are:
- targeted to the health challenges of the 21st Century
- based on the best available evidence
- designed to protect and promote health as well as treating disease
- capable of addressing the needs of children who may be vulnerable or at risk.
- centred on children, young people and their families
- delivered consistently and equitably throughout the country
and are fully integrated with the more wide-ranging actions necessary to create health in body, mind and behaviour, whichever agency is responsible for delivering these actions.
7. Scotland's national health has rightly been a cause for concern and a focus for action in recent years. Progressive improvement in the health of our population will be dependent on a range of activities designed to treat disease and to promote health. At the heart of these there needs to be a sustained and coordinated commitment to work with other services towards ensuring the best of health for the next generation. Therein lies the most optimistic approach to delivering our future health as a nation.
8. In the following sections this Action Framework sets out the challenges, the basis for change and how we intend to deliver and support the change required if we are to achieve the goal of Delivering a Healthy Future for our Children and Young People.
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