Under 5 Care Overview
This refers to special healthcare given to children under the age of 5 years. The first five years of life are fundamental to growing children’s physical and mental development. Children in this age range are at the highest risk of developing life-threatening illnesses.
The key components of under-5 care are to monitor the growth and development of the child and also to prevent illnesses through immunizations. This is done through a tool called the under 5 card.
- Parent Education on Child Health
- Regular height and weight monitoring
- Growth and Development Milestones
- Immunization Schedule Guide
- Immunization Records
- Nutrition and Health Promotion
Benefits of Under 5 Care
Under 5 allows for the early detection of warning signs and the diagnosis of childhood illnesses. This also allows for the proper treatment of diseases to ensure that they do not result in permanent disability.
Under 5 allows for preventive care which includes immunization, nutritional surveillance, health checkups, oral rehydration, family planning, and health education for the guardians.
Health Tips & Info
When children fall ill, it is important to quickly seek medical advice as their medical conditions can quickly get worse if interventions are delayed. Children are very vulnerable to severe diseases caused by event the common disease-causing agents that only cause mild illness in adults. This is because their immune system is still developing within them.
An under-5 card is not for sale. The government provides them for free at many government health centers. Some are even given at the birth of the child so that they don’t miss any of the scheduled immunizations.
All immunizations that are on the child-health schedule are not for sale. These are procured by the government.
