Untimely care: How the modern logics of coverage and medicine compromise children's health and development

Developmental Impacts of PANS/PANDAS and Inadequate Support for Children and Families

This article examines the degree to which major domains of child development are affected by Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS)/Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS). Using cross-sectional survey data collected with an international sample of parents who identify as having children with PANS/PANDAS (N = 402), this study analyzed parent-reported developmental impacts and access to treatment and adequate supports. Parents reported that PANS/PANDAS negatively impacted their children's development across all domains: Emotional Development (92% of children), Social Development (90%), Cognitive Development (86%), Academic Growth (86%), Identity Development (83%), Talent Development (73%) and Language Development (50%). In addition, developmental impacts were likely to be more severe for children whose parents reported a greater number of inadequate supports with parenting, school, extracurricular activities, and crisis situations. These results indicate that children and families affected by PANS/PANDAS need better support to maximize children's opportunities, at home, in school, and in their communities, to continue developing despite challenging neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Health for all? Pasts, presents and futures of aspirations for universal healthcare

In this special issue, we bring together anthropological and historical work that considers successive aspirations towards 'health for all': their pasts, their futures, and their diverse meanings and iterations. Across the world, hopes for providing 'health for all' were central to nation building in the long 20th century, and for international relations, particularly after the second world war and the establishment of the WHO. Health became seen as a fundamental good by citizens of North and South and has remained a central force shaping global and national politics until today. But what does 'health for all' actually mean, and how did it come to matter? In this introduction we approach 'health for all as a situated, multi-faceted phenomenon, that - while having a shared aspiration towards universality of access and equality of care - comes into focus in partial, diverse and contentious policies, programmes, projects and practices. Beyond homogenising narratives that frame 'health for all' in terms of either success or failure, the special issue highlights the diverse iterations that 'health for all' has taken on the ground for different subjects and groups of people, exploring exclusions and limitations as well as dreams and aspirations.