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Adolescents: From the Margins to the Mainstream of Global Health
About the Symposium
Presentations by the Authors
Symposium Materials
Attendee Reflections
Related Resources
Thank you to the staff of the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University for compiling the presentations and symposium materials.
On April 26, 2012, The Lancet, the Centre for Adolescent Health, Melbourne, Australia and the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) presented an academic symposium titled, “Adolescents: From the Margins to the Mainstream of Global Health.” More than 100 international adolescent health researchers, health care providers, advocates, NGO representatives, and funders helped to make the day a success.
The symposium was in support of the release of a ground-breaking new Lancet Series on Adolescent Health in New York City during the week of April 22, 2012. The launch coincided with the 45th session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development, held from April 23-27, 2012 at United Nations Headquarters, that for the first time had the theme “Adolescents and Youth.”
The Lancet series covers secular trends in adolescent health and development, the evidence around social determinants of health during the adolescent years, the scope for prevention, and presents for the first time a systematic global synthesis of health data. In addition, the series calls for action in a range of areas including coordination of global data collection, cross-cutting policy responses in programming and better integration of adolescents into future health agendas around NCDs, injury and mental health.
The goals of the symposium were to:
1. Share the major findings of the Lancet series;
2. Engage key constituencies including academics, policy makers and funders, for discussion of the potential for health gain in adolescent years;
3. Explore the next steps beyond the series.
Presentations by the Authors
Health of the World's Adolescents (PDF)
— George Patton, Jane Ferguson, Dominic Richardson, Fiona
Gore, Carolyn Coffey, Louisa Degenhardt, Dorothy Currie, Claudia Cappa,
Leanne Riley, Nan Astone
Social Determinants of Adolescent Health (PDF)— Russell Viner, Elizabeth Ozer, Simon Denny, Michael Marmot, Michael Resnick, Adesegun Fatusi, Candace Currie
Global Application of Prevention Science (PDF) — Richard F. Catalano, Ph.D.
Adolescence: A Foundation for Future Health (PDF) — Susan M. Sawyer, Rima A. Afifi, Linda H. Bearinger, Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Bruce Dick, Alex C. Ezeh, George C. Patton
Symposium Materials
Program of the Day (PDF)
Attendee Reflections
Katie Malbon, MD
Assistant Professor in Pediatrics
Division of Adolescent Medicine
Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center
Why do you feel it was important or valuable to attend?
The Global Health Conference was particularly pertinent to me as I am from the UK and so very interested in hearing comparisons between the UK and the US with regard to Adolescent Health. However, that is absolutely NOT the sole reason I attended. I think knowing what is happening globally in adolescent health is vitally important as ultimately it reflects on our practice as Pediatricians. Not only that, we learn what works (and what doesn't) by hearing what is happening worldwide, not just nationwide.What was a compelling take-away that you heard from one of the panels?
I was really struck by the fact that adolescent mortality has now overtaken infant mortality. It made me see even more clearly how vitally important preventative health measures are in adolescents both on a short trajectory (STDs, pregnancy) and a longer one (obesity, heart disease, diabetes).Will what you heard at the symposium in any way affect your work with adolescents?
The symposium gave me appetite for more knowledge about Global Health and highlighted for me the importance of having this knowledge at one's fingertips. It made me want to learn how other countries are tackling preventative health measures and to think about ways in which we can share what we do and learn. It has made me focus more on preventative health as a whole; to consider how policy can influence outcomes and how much the availability of health services matters to our world's adolescents.
David L. Bell, MD, MPH
Assistant Clinical Professor of Population and Family Health
Medical Director, Young Men's Clinic
Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Why do you feel it was important or valuable to attend?
It was a very valuable symposium. Most importantly, it framed adolescent health as the foundation for future adult health and that today’s youth are our assets for the future. It also highlighted the importance of the health of adolescents globally across the contexts of low-income, medium-income, and high-income nations.What was a compelling take-away that you heard from one of the panels?
• Given the improvements in infant and child mortality, adolescent mortality is the next most pressing public health imperative.
• We have evidence-based effective interventions for adolescents in a variety of arenas that we need to know and use.
• Gender equity improves the lives of adolescent females, but also adolescent males.Will what you heard at the symposium in any way affect your work with adolescents?
This may not affect my individual work with adolescents, but it will change my communication about adolescent health to the various communities that I speak to and will influence the type of messages that I may deliver in my next published manuscripts.
Gregg Joseph Montalto, MD
Commander, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy
Fellow, Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine
Children's National Medical CenterThe LancetWhy do you feel it was important or valuable to attend?
Personally, it was valuable given my particular interest in global health policy. Global health has always been intertwined with economics, diplomacy and conflict, and only recently are world leaders truly beginning to understand and acknowledge these interactions. Still, global ADOLESCENT health lags behind the classical focus on infectious disease and the newer focus on non-communicable disease (NCDs such as diabetes and cardiac disease).
However, both the directly health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDG 4 - Child Health, MDG 5 - Maternal Health, MDG 6 - Combat HIV/AIDS), and the indirectly health-related MDGs of poverty reduction, universal education and gender equality all have inroads to increase the dialogue on adolescent health at a time when there are more adolescents in the world than ever before, and with a substantial "youth bulge" in some of the poorest countries. A small but dedicated group of adolescent health professionals met in New York to discuss these exciting new opportunities, to share research and ideas, and to form a plan for the future.
What was a compelling take-away that you heard from one of the panels?
There are many brilliant adolescent health minds out there; regular and sustained interaction with each other, while growing the global adolescent health community and its collective knowledge, is happening now.
Will what you heard at the symposium in any way affect your work with adolescents?
Absolutely. I encourage SAHM members to join the International Association for Adolescent Health (IAAH), or to check out its website and Facebook page. To effectively promote global adolescent health and improve the lives of adolescents worldwide, we need to integrate the work and the insights of adolescents, educators, clinicians, community health workers, social workers, researchers, economists, policymakers — anyone whose work can make an impact on global adolescent health.
Related Resources
International Association for Adolescent HealthHeilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Centre for Adolescent Health