Long-term health conditions in adolescents
Exploring long-term health conditions in adolescents: what we know, what we still need to know, and how health and social systems should respond.
Join us to watch this insightful lecture on long-term health conditions in adolescents, exploring what we know, what we still need to know and how health and social systems should respond.
Long-term health conditions are an increasingly important contributor to illness, disability and developmental disadvantage among adolescents, reflecting the growing number of children in need of long-term care. This lecture will examine the evolving definition of long-term health conditions in people aged 0–19 years.
The talk will summarise current knowledge on the epidemiology of long-term conditions in adolescence, including available global estimates, while highlighting important data gaps, health-system readiness, and continuity of care. It will also explore why fragmented, disease-specific approaches are insufficient for adolescents with complex, long-term needs, particularly in low-resource settings where primary care teams often lack the tools, competencies and referral systems required for sustained management. Drawing on WHO’s proposed work on integrated primary-level care for children and adolescents with long-term health conditions, the lecture will discuss what WHO can do to strengthen definitions, evidence synthesis, standards, competencies, care pathways, monitoring indicators and country implementation, with the aim of supporting coordinated, continuous and equitable care across the life course.
The talk will be followed by a Q&A session.
This event is part of the joint symposium by The Centre for Global Chronic Conditions (CGCC) and the Maternal, Adolescent, Reproductive & Child Health Centre (MARCH) on 16-17 September, exploring long-term conditions affecting adolescents and young people. The symposium is open to LSHTM staff and students (registration required).
Speaker
Dr Valentina Baltag, WHO
Dr Valentina Baltag is Head of the Child, Adolescent and Older People’s Health unit in the WHO Department of Sexual, reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health and ageing at WHO headquarters in Geneva.
After a career in clinical practice and clinical research, she specialised in health systems management and public health, with a focus on reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health. She has worked in several countries in economic transition in the WHO European Region, including Central Asia, as well as in the WHO Regional Office for Europe.
In her current position, she provides leadership to the unit in developing guidelines, norms and standards to promote health and sustain well-being across the life course, and to support countries in strengthening health promotion, early detection and prevention, and person-centred care. Dr Baltag is a strong advocate for investing in the early years of life, with sustained investments across age groups through people-centred services and multisectoral action. She has led the development of global guidance to support governments in strengthening health and education systems to deliver age- and developmentally appropriate care across the life course. She is the editor of the International handbook on adolescent health and development: The public health response, and has authored book chapters and other publications on primary care organisation, quality of care, school health and school health services, and well-child care. She holds a PhD from the Medical University in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, and an MSc in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
Event notices
- Please note that you can join this event in person to watch the session or you can join the session remotely
- Please note that the recording link will be listed on this page when available
Venues
- Manson Lecture Theatre, LSHTM, Keppel St, London, WC1E 7HT
- UVRI Training room, MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, 51/59 Nakiwogo Rd, Entebbe, Uganda
- The Gazebo at THRU ZIM offices, The Health Research Unit, 8 Ross, Harare, Zimbabwe
- MEIRU Lilongwe conference room, Community Health Sciences Unit, Area 3, Lilongwe, Malawi
- MEIRU Chilumba conference room, MEIRU Campus, Administration Building, Chilumba, Malawi
Admission
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