Abstract
Health Policies of Adolescents in the Middle East and North Africa: What Works, What Doesn’t, and How Do We Strategize in the Age of COVID-19?
This chapter is devoted to filling gaps in the sector of adolescent health policy amid the changing world and increasing global health challenges, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on adolescence. The chapter explores the health outcomes and policies that actively impact adolescent groups across the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region as a unique attempt to provide plausible answers to a critical set of key questions: What does the policy landscape of adolescent health look like in the MENA? What system-level processes and protocols work well in these nations? How can health policy be maintained and advanced both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic? All relevant data and information were extracted and then thematically analyzed from scientific literature, reports, and databases using international search engines, institutional webpages, and scientific journals. This chapter has seven sections: (1) a thorough background on the existing health policy landscape, (2) an overview of the sociopolitical and biosocial conditions in the MENA region, (3) the overall context of these health policies, (4) the key stakeholders and their respective roles within health policymaking and implementation, (5) selected national case reports, (6) COVID-19 impacts on adolescence and community-level needs and priorities, and (7) actionable recommendations for better and responsive health policies and programs.
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Abbreviations
- AA-HA:
-
Global Accelerated Action for the Health of Adolescents
- ADHD:
-
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
- COVID-19:
-
Coronavirus Disease 2019
- CRC/C/GC:
-
Convention on the Rights of the Child, the General Comment
- HIV:
-
Human Immunodeficiency Virus
- IATTTYP:
-
Inter-Agency Technical Task Team on Young People
- ICU:
-
Intensive Care Units
- IDP:
-
Internally Displaced People
- KSA:
-
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- MDGs:
-
Millennium Development Goals
- MENA:
-
Middle East and North Africa
- MoH:
-
Ministry of Health
- MoPH:
-
Ministry of Public Health
- NCLW:
-
National Commission for Lebanese Women
- NGOs:
-
Non-governmental Organizations
- OCHA:
-
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
- OECD:
-
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- PCBS:
-
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
- PMRS:
-
Palestinian Medical Relief Society
- RMNCAH:
-
Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child, and Adolescent Health
- RSV:
-
Respiratory Syncytial Virus
- SARS-CoV:
-
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Associated Coronavirus
- SDGs:
-
Sustainable Development Goals
- SRH:
-
Sexual and Reproductive Health
- SRHR:
-
Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights
- UN:
-
United Nations
- UNDG:
-
United Nations Development Group
- UNESCWA:
-
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
- UNFPA:
-
United Nations Fund for Population Activities
- UNHCR:
-
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- UNICEF:
-
United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
- UNPD:
-
UN Population Division
- UNRWA:
-
United Nations Relief and Works Agency
- UNSD:
-
UN Statistics Division
- WHO:
-
World Health Organization
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AlKhaldi, M., Abouhala, S., Alhalaiqa, F., Ibrahim, A., Kashash, R.A., Abusalah, A. (2022). Health Policies of Adolescents in the Middle East and North Africa: Past Experiences, Current Scene, and Future Strategic Directions. In: Barakat, C., Al Anouti, F. (eds) Adolescent Mental Health in The Middle East and North Africa. Global Perspectives on Health Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91790-6_7
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