The 8th Forum on Children Health for Developing Countries kicked off in Changsha on October 19, 2025. Themed "Openness, Innovation, Sharing, and Development," the forum brought together pediatric experts and medical institution representatives from over 20 countries worldwide, as well as delegates from international organizations such as the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). The attendees jointly deliberated on strategies for advancing global health equity and innovative development for children.

The Declaration on Children Health Development in Developing Countries, a core outcome of the forum, was formally released at the opening ceremony. The declaration precisely targets critical challenges in global child health governance, outlining five core action directions: promoting equitable access to appropriate technologies, establishing unified pediatric standards and guidelines, strengthening transnational collaboration in talent cultivation, deepening scientific research and innovation partnerships, and fostering integrated development of the healthcare industry. It provides a clear pathway for advancing global child health from consensus to action, aligning with relevant goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Another major highlight of this forum was the expansion of the Children Healthcare Alliance for Developing Countries. Medical institutions from eight countries, including Laos, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, formally joined the alliance. This marks a further extension of the alliance's global cooperation network and will inject new vitality into South-South cooperation in the child health sector.

The forum also featured five specialized sub-forums to precisely address industrial needs, covering such cutting-edge topics as global child health governance, breakthroughs in neonatal medicine, pediatric neurological disease research, accessible surgical techniques, and nutritional security. Experts engaged in in-depth discussions around these themes, sparking numerous new ideas for collaboration.

Since its initiation in 2018, the Children Healthcare Alliance for Developing Countries has consistently pursued its core mission of advancing international cooperation in child health. Through the dual initiatives of issuing a declaration and expanding the alliance, this forum has built an efficient international exchange platform to promote deep integration of global pediatric resources with the pragmatic needs of developing countries. This has contributed practical experience to global health governance, ensuring all children have equitable access to opportunities for healthy development.

Tarawali Dauda Augustine, president of the Sierra Leone-China Friendship Hospital, stated on-site, "All global colleagues who have trained in Hunan will bring the professional skills and knowledge acquired here back to their home countries, helping to save more children's lives."

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn. 

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn