Meeting for the presentation of CHICOS and RICHE projects results
On Wednesday April 24th, the final conclusions of two FP7 funded projects will be presented to a selection of Members of the European Parliament in Brussels. CHICOS, coordinated at CREAL, has focussed on the coordination of European birth cohort studies, while RICHE, coordinated by Dublin City University, concentrated on child health research needs. This meeting is co-hosted by the Irish MEPs Mr. Sean Kelly and Ms. Nessa Childers.
During the last three years, CHICOS and RICHE have studied the wealth of information available in birth cohort and child health research and impact on policy development. The projects have compiled a set of recommendations for future strategies to strengthen child health research in Europe. The main conclusions of the study are that children as well as being important in their own right, are the key to the future health of Europe; there are still significant child health needs in Europe; big research gaps exist, particularly in moving research into practice, and implementing effective practices across Europe; there are large investments in child health, notably the European birth cohort studies, which need to be used more effectively; we have the capacity to significantly improve the health of our children, and much of the knowledge, we now need action; and, if we are to achieve active and healthy ageing we have to begin in childhood.
“We seek responses to our recommendations, and we are interested in the perspectives from MEPs on child health issues in Europe, and in their own countries, and their ideas on how to most effectively steer European child health research to meet the short and long-term needs of the EU population”, said Martine Vrijheid, CREAL researcher and coordinator of CHICOS project.
Further information and final reports can be found on the project websites: http://www.chicosproject.eu and http://www.childhealthresearch.eu/.