Why do we need to invest in the health and development of adolescents?
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There are an estimated 1.2 billion adolescents - one in every five people - in the world today. Adolescence is a period of major physical and psychological change, as well as great changes in social interactions and relationships.
Although most adolescents make the transition into adulthood in good health, many do not. Some of the health problems faced by adolescents affect them during adolescence itself, such as a death caused by suicide or interpersonal violence, or from the consequences of an unsafe abortion. Others affect the individual later in life, for example, HIV-related illnesses in adulthood resulting from infection during adolescence, or lung cancer resulting from tobacco use initiated during adolescence.
The health of adolescents also has an intergenerational effect. Babies born to adolescent parents have a higher risk of being underweight and of dying. They are also likely to suffer from any social and economic disadvantages encountered by their parents. There are compelling economic arguments for addressing the health of adolescents. Improving the health of school-going adolescents increases their enrolment and retention in school, their cognitive achievements, and leads to greater productivity. There is also a need to safeguard investments in child survival, and in the education of children who lived to become adolescents.
Children and adolescents have important needs as they grow and develop into adults. Virtually all governments have confirmed their right to have these needs fulfilled, with the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
