Advocating for children's health: a US and UK perspective.

In this article we describe the diVering American and British approaches to child health advocacy by paediatricians and paediatric organisations. In the USA, advocacy has a long history and is well established as an important function of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), but the USA still has to achieve universal health care coverage for children. In contrast, the UK has had universal health care for children for more than 50 years and individual paediatricians have spoken out for children. However the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) adopted advocacy as a goal only in 1997. In our article we pose the following questions: + What is advocacy and why is it a task for paediatricians? + In what ways can paediatricians act as advocates for their patients? + How do advocacy activities by paediatric organisations benefit child health? + What should be the focus of collaborative advocacy between US and British paediatricians?