As paediatricians, we fear for the health of Ukrainian child refugees

Just over 100 years ago, the ill-winds of the influenza pandemic swept around the world, killing some 50 million people. While some children were affected, the highest mortality was among (younger) adults.

The toll on their mental health from a silent killer – which was poorly understood and for which there was no vaccine and no treatment – must have been profound. Moreover, movement of large populations of refugees and troops drove outbreaks of other diseases. As many as one third of the military died from infections.

Today, it is obvious the basic humanitarian needs of families stranded in conflict zones in Ukraine, Syria, or Yemen – or escaping as refugees – must be prioritised. They need food, shelter, warmth and security. The response of the British public in opening their homes to receive refugees offers some glimmer of light amid the gloom.

But for affected children, there is an urgent need for carefully-coordinated assistance to tackle basic health needs, including immunisation services. This is to protect them from vaccine-preventable illnesses such as pneumonia, measles and meningitis and avoid outbreaks of disease in conflict zones.

Health and wellbeing support must be underpinned by robust child protection systems, so vulnerable and possibly traumatised children are safe and can quickly adapt to their new circumstances. Sadly, we know that children in these circumstances all too easily fall prey to exploitative and abusive adults.

On the ground in conflict zones, provision of routine vaccinations and treatments for chronic conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, cystic fibrosis must be prioritised in the supplies being sent by the international community to help those with health needs.

For refugees, we insist that young children are urgently guaranteed safe haven to maintain family integrity and reunion, through rapid and compassionate visa systems.

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For those arriving in the UK, we ask for a commitment to monitoring families and unaccompanied children, to maximise health, safeguarding and child protection measures. We must learn the lessons of the past and provide for child health rather than allow it to be further set back.

As paediatricians, we are deeply concerned about the monstrous effects of war coming in the midst of the terrible ravages of the pandemic. The mounting risk to the mental and physical health of affected children and their families, and the consequences for their education and future opportunities, means this may have a lasting generational impact.

While we see the remarkable resilience of young children in managing whatever life throws at them, military conflict unacceptably contravenes the rights of the child and threatens their entitlement to health, safety and education.

In such a stormy period of history, we must ensure that international policy does not forget the children. The very future of humanity depends on them.

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard is professor of Paediatric Infection and Immunity, University of Oxford. Dr Camilla Kingdon is president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.