ABOUT CHPA

A brief history of the CHPA

The current state of child health and services for child health in South Africa have not yet achieved the level that should prevail as reflected in the Constitution of South Africa, the Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and as further reflected in the acts, regulations, guidelines and working documents of South Africa.

Despite the clear intentions of the Government of South Africa and the international community for improvement in child health and child health services, this situation continues to threaten the survival and development of children in South Africa.

Following a meeting in February 2007 of about 40 ‘regional paediatricians’ working or involved in rural paediatrics or broader public health issues related to children, the idea of a Child Health (Priorities) conference was raised.

The Child Priorities Association was formed in December 2008 following the inaugural Child Health Priorities conference held at the Durban International Convention Centre. The meeting was convened by Prof Nigel Rollins and attracted over 140 participants representing amongst others: doctors, nurses, and other international and local governmental and non-governmental practitioners within the health sector.

UNICEF South Africa provided technical and financial support for hosting the first conference. They have continued to magnanimously support all subsequent conferences to date.

The 2008 conference was held in Johannesburg. The was a gap until 2012 when the third conference was held in East London. Subsequent conferences have been held consecutively each year in all the major centres in South Africa including Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg, Potchefstroom, and Pretoria. It has grown and now attracts delegates with a diverse range of child health related interest and skills.

For most of the period until 2019, the primary role of the Association was to host the annual conference and its executive committee served as the conference steering committee, with local convenors leading the organisation of the conference with the assistance of local colleagues.

In 2020, the Association was formally registered as a non-profit organisation with the Department of Social Development.